The primary aim of the Crown Estate Bill (Bill 135 of 2024–25) is to remove limitations on the Crown Estate’s borrowing powers and the types of assets if can invest in. It originated in the Lords, where it was amended. The bill will have its second reading in the House of Commons on 7 January 2025.
Crown Estate Bill [HL] 2024-25 (439 KB , PDF)
The Crown Estate Bill (Bill 135 of 2024–25) was introduced to the House of Commons on 19 November 2024. It started in the Lords, where it was amended. It will have its second reading on 7 January 2025. It is a government bill.
The bill was introduced to the House of Lords on 25 July 2024. It had second reading in the Lords on 2 September 2024, committee stage on 14 and 22 October 2024, report stage on 5 November 2024 and third reading on 18 November 2024. The bill was amended in the Lords at report stage.
The bill brought to the Commons has seven clauses: three clauses from the original bill introduced to the Lords and four clauses added in the Lords.
The bill, together with its explanatory notes and other documents, are available on the Parliament website: Crown Estate Bill [HL]. The government has also deposited documents in the Lords Library that include an update, in draft, of the framework document setting out governance arrangements between the Treasury and Crown Estate and a memorandum of understanding. Both are written based on the bill as introduced to the Lords. They include more detail about borrowing arrangements than is included in the bill itself.
The bill extends and applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The management of property of the Crown Estate situated wholly in Scotland is devolved to Scottish Ministers. That property is now managed separately by Crown Estate Scotland. The bill does not affect the management of Crown Estate Scotland’s properties.
The bill requires a money resolution as it involves new public spending.
This briefing explains the background to the bill and what the bill would do.
The Crown Estate is “a major landowner” with a “significant and diverse” £14 billion property portfolio including UK buildings, shoreline, seabed, forestry, agriculture and common land.
The Crown Estate traces its origins back for hundreds of years, but it was established in its current form in perpetuity under the Crown Estate Act 1961 (CEA 1961). It is an “independent, commercial business” managed by a board of up to eight Crown Estate commissioners (commissioners), appointed by the King on the advice of the Prime Minister. It is a public corporation.
The Crown Estate’s property, rights and interests belong to His Majesty “in right of the Crown” but all its profits are paid into the government’s current account and can be used for any government spending. The government provides financial support to the Monarch which is known as the sovereign grant. The level of the grant is linked to, but not directly derived from, profits from the Crown Estate.
In 2023/24, the Crown Estate generated a net revenue profit of £1.1 billion. Over the past decade it has returned £4.1 billion of net revenue profit to the Treasury. The Crown Estate focuses on activities which align with wider national needs, including energy security and sustainable economic growth. It manages the seabed and much of the coastline around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, playing a “fundamental role in the sustainable development of this national asset, including the UK’s world-leading offshore wind sector.”
On the day the Crown Estates Bill was introduced in the Lords, the government announced a partnership between the Crown Estate and Great British Energy to bring forward new offshore wind developments. Separately, the Great British Energy Bill 2024-25, establishing Great British Energy, is going through Parliament.
The primary aim of the bill is to remove limitations on the Crown Estate’s borrowing powers and the types of assets if can invest in. The government says current limitations restrict the Crown Estate’s long term viability (PDF).
The government says the bill would broaden the scope of activities that the Crown Estate can undertake to “support the delivery of its core purpose across net zero, nature recovery, economic growth and generating returns to the public purse”. It would also “enable the Crown Estate to invest in capital-intensive projects more effectively”.
The bill would also make changes to the Crown Estate’s governance, increasing the number of Crown Estate commissioners from 8 to 12 and paying them from the revenues generated by the Crown Estate rather than out of money provided by Parliament.
Amendments made in the Lords, supported by the government, would:
An amendment agreed in the Lords, without government support, would:
There has been cross-party support for the bill in principle in the House of Lords. Peers were supportive of the primary aims of the original bill: increasing the Crown Estate’s borrowing and investment powers.
Key topics of discussion during the House of Lords stages included:
As discussed above, four clauses were added to the bill at Lords report stage. Three have government support: clause 3 (sustainable development), clause 4 (annual reports) and clause 6 (commissioners with special responsibility). Clause 5 (salmon farms on the Crown Estate) does not have government support.
Crown Estate Bill [HL] 2024-25 (439 KB , PDF)
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