Crown estate makes more than £1bn profit for third year running

King Charles’s property management company has made more than £1bn for the third consecutive year thanks to the boom in offshore windfarms paid for through energy bills. The crown estate, the royals’ portfolio of land and property , reported £1.2bn in profit for the last financial year, almost three times the amount it made three years ago. Two-thirds came from the offshore wind industry. Wind developers paid £875m in option fees last year to secure areas of the seabed from the crown estate, which is considered the legal owner of the ocean floor around England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The windfall marks the third year in which the property manager – which partly funds the monarchy – was able to capitalise on Britain’s booming offshore wind industry after introducing an auction for windfarm developers hoping to lay claim to a seabed lease. The income from the wind industry fell by £198m from the year before as two offshore windfarms began construction, allowing the developers to pay a lower rate to the crown estate. Once the windfarms begin generating low-carbon electricity the developers will be required to pay the crown estate 2% of the revenue they collect from energy bills. Investor appetite for UK offshore windfarms, which earn guaranteed rates from energy consumers, has helped transformed the financial fate of the crown estate, which also includes a portfolio of London properties and rural real estate. …