Moorings and marinas

In most cases we grant a block lease or licence to an appropriate body, such as a harbour authority, boat club or fairways committee and in parts of Scotland, a moorings association. These bodies provide local administration and sometimes the mooring tackle and other facilities and make appropriate charges to the boat owners.

Boat owners pay the local market rate for a mooring, which depends on a number of factors such as the type of mooring, the length of boat and location. This fee is paid to the mooring operator. The mooring operator pays a ground rent to us for the right to lay the moorings.

The ground rent is set with regard to charges made by both our lessees and by other landowners for similar mooring facilities. Each mooring area is treated individually. We take into account a number of valuation factors such as:

• location
• catchment area
• geographic advantages and disadvantages (e.g. distance from cruising grounds)
• environmental / scenic considerations
• ease of access from sea and land
• tide
• shoreside facilities
• security
• popularity

We do not set charges for boat owners as this is a matter for the moorings operator. However, by leasing areas to responsible local bodies we do everything we can to ensure that the needs of all sailing enthusiasts are met whatever the size of their boat or income.

As with moorings, we do not manage marinas directly but instead lease land for their development and management. Our current practice is to assess the rent on the basis of a percentage of turnover of the marina. The marina operator sets its own charges based on the location, facilities provided and prevailing market rates.