What is a home mooring, and do you need one?

It is the single choice that shapes everything else about how you can use the boat, and people often make it on cost alone without seeing what else changes.

With a home mooring

You have a place — a marina berth, an online mooring, a private bank — where the boat has the right to be. You can leave it there indefinitely, and you can cruise as much or as little as you like — the range expectation does not apply to you. When you are away from your home mooring, though, the same rules apply as for everyone else: move on within 14 days, or sooner if the mooring is signed for less.

You pay for the mooring, which in parts of the South East costs more than the licence.

Without one

You save that cost and take on two obligations instead: not staying in one place beyond 14 days, and making a genuine progressive journey across the licence year. You also pay a surcharge on the licence itself — 15% for 2026/27, reaching 25% by April 2028.

And your licence renewal becomes conditional on the Trust being satisfied you have complied, which is a materially different relationship with your own home.

The half-way option that is not one

People sometimes declare a home mooring they do not really use, on the basis that it removes the obligations. The Trust does check whether declared moorings are genuine and available to the boat. A mooring that exists only on the licence application is not a home mooring.

If you have a home mooring, the renewal reminders still matter to you — licence, safety certificate and insurance dates apply to every boat on the network.