Licensing
Do I need a licence for a narrowboat?
Yes — any narrowboat kept, used or moored on the inland waterways needs a current licence from the Canal & River Trust (or the Environment Agency on some rivers), alongside a valid Boat Safety Scheme certificate and insurance.
Every narrowboat kept, used or moored on the connected inland waterways needs a current licence — from the Canal & River Trust on most canals, or the Environment Agency on the rivers it manages. The licence sits alongside two other requirements: a valid Boat Safety Scheme certificate, renewed periodically, and third-party boat insurance. Licence fees are set annually and scale with the boat's length, so there's no single flat figure — check the Canal & River Trust directly for current rates before budgeting. You choose between a home-mooring licence, tied to a fixed berth, or a continuous-cruising licence for a boat with no permanent mooring. Cruising without a valid licence isn't a grey area — see what happens if you don't have one. Once the paperwork's sorted, the boat's name is worth celebrating properly — see our narrowboat gifts.
Written by Craig Fearn, Narrowboat Gifts.