UK sets £153 hovercraft registration fee from Nov 2025
If you teach or study how UK rules are made, this is a tidy real‑world example. The Hovercraft (Fees) Regulations 2025 set the charge for registering a hovercraft at £153 and apply across the United Kingdom. Ministers made the instrument on 16 October 2025 and it starts on 10 November 2025, according to the text published on legislation.gov.uk. In committee debates this autumn, ministers also signalled November as the point from which hovercraft fees would be aligned with maritime fee powers, which matches the start date here.
What exactly is being paid for? A certificate of registration for a hovercraft. That certificate is created by article 5 of the long‑standing Hovercraft (General) Order 1972, which sets out who can register, what details must be recorded and when a certificate is issued. In plain terms: you apply, officials check you meet the conditions, and-once the fee is paid-the certificate is issued.
Why £153? Because that amount has been in the system for years. The Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2018 listed £153 for registering a hovercraft in Part 10 of Schedule 1. The new hovercraft‑specific regulations lift that figure into the right place and remove the duplicate line from the 2018 list so operators aren’t paying under two regimes. If you’re teaching this, it’s a good example of tidying rather than changing policy.
Who takes the money-and under what power? Article 35 of the 1972 Order authorises the Secretary of State to set fees by statutory instrument, with Treasury approval. That’s why you see two Treasury whips countersigning the regulations. This is classic secondary legislation: Parliament agreed the power in 1972; ministers now use it to set the actual number. You can point learners to Article 35 as the legal hook.
How it works in practice. You apply for registration; the £153 is payable on application; and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), an executive agency of the Department for Transport, does not have to issue the certificate until it’s paid. That’s standard fee‑for‑service design and the MCA’s role here is administrative and regulatory rather than commercial.
Who signed and why that matters. The instrument is signed within the Department for Transport by Keir Mather, Parliamentary Under‑Secretary of State, and approved by two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury, Taiwo Owatemi and Christian Wakeford. When you see those names, read them as the formal Treasury sign‑off required for fee‑setting. Their current roles are listed on GOV.UK.
Who is affected right now? Very few operators. The UK’s only scheduled passenger hovercraft service is Hovertravel’s Southsea–Ryde route on the Solent, which runs two craft. That’s why the government’s note says no significant impact is expected: this is narrow in scope and primarily an administrative clean‑up. For students, it’s a reminder that not all SIs are big or controversial.
Teaching tip: use this SI to practice reading structure and cross‑references. Start with the basics-title, commencement, and extent-so you know what, when, and where. Then track the legal references: “article 5” tells you what the certificate is; “article 35” tells you how fees are set; and the amendment to the 2018 Regulations shows how one SI can switch off a duplicated fee elsewhere. If you want wider context, the 2025 Hovercraft (Application of Enactments) Order updated hovercraft law so maritime fee powers and modern references apply cleanly to hovercraft too.