In this week’s Gossage Gossip, Mr Gossage himself discusses the expected increase in profits at the Crown Estate as it takes advantage of its offshore rights.
Our newly crowned King Charles III would normally receive one-quarter of the Crown Estate’s profits, with the rest going to the Treasury. But he has now redirected his family’s share to go to “the wider public good.” And that share is increasingly worth having.
Why? Because the Crown Estate owns the seabed rights around the UK, stretching as far as 12 nautical miles from the seashore, and has therefore been able to make a killing selling offshore wind farm rights. This year alone option fees from as yet unbuilt projects, subsea cables and mineral extraction are expected to reach £900 million.
In 2018, these assets were worth around 10% of the total Crown Estates portfolio. When last officially valued three years ago, these renewable assets were reckoned to have grown to be worth £4.3 billion. That made the offshore rights worth around one third of the Crown Estate’s assets, even in 2021. Hence, right now it looks as though the marine portfolio of the King will soon surpass the land-based one.
So, join me in bellowing out that chorus: Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules The Waves…
