Record profits intensify calls to devolve Crown Estate to Wales

A long-standing call to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales has got a little louder after an annual review showed that profits that could flow to Wales have ballooned to £210m.

The Crown Estate published their annual review, and also releasing a Wales-specific review, last month.

The report shows that in 2025/26, the profit generated from Wales’ Crown Estate was £210m, up more than 2,300 per cent from £8.7m in 2020/21.

Plaid Cymru – which now forms the Welsh Government following the party’s victory in May’s Senedd elections - has long called for Wales-specific figures in relation to the Crown Estate, and the party said that the “new figures reinforce that their campaign to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales is a matter of priority.”

Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts said that Plaid Cymru has a “mandate to keep fighting for fairness” with devolving the Crown Estate being a position held by every council in Wales.

The Crown Estate was devolved to the Scottish Parliament in 2017.

Ms Saville Roberts said that profits from Wales’ natural resources being sent to London is a “striking injustice” and that the next UK Government “must take steps to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales”.

She aimed this directly at Andy Burnham, the most likely successor of Keir Starmer, who said that he would put Wales at the centre of any government he runs.

Plaid Cymru have previously tabled amendments and bills in Westminster calling for the Crown Estate to be devolved but they have been rejected by the UK Government.

Ms Saville Roberts MP said: “The Crown Estate in Wales’ profits have soared from £8.7m in 2021 to £210m in 2026.

“But the striking injustice is that our communities won’t see the benefit of the money they generated as it will be sent directly to the Treasury in London and it will be they that decide where and how it is spent.

“However, this does not have to be the case.

“Scotland has been in control of its natural resources since 2017, allowing its profits to be reinvested directly into Scottish public services and local communities.

“There is no reason why Wales should be treated differently.

“Plaid Cymru has long argued that devolving the Crown Estate is a matter of priority, and the people of Wales have given us a mandate to keep fighting for fairness.

“Every single council in Wales also agrees with this principle.

“We have tabled amendments and bills in Westminster on multiple occasions to devolve the Crown Estate, but the UK Government continues to ignore the people of Wales and deprive Welsh communities of the benefits created by their own natural wealth.

“As the frontrunner to be the next Prime Minister, Andy Burnham has said that he will put Wales at the centre of any government he runs.

“If he is to be true to his word, then the next UK Government must take steps to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales.”

Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Gwynedd County Councils have all backed the calls to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales in the last two years.

Pembrokeshire councillors made an appeal last year for the move to happen.

In a successful notice of motion put before Pembrokeshire County Council members last year, Plaid Cymru councillor Michael Williams said: “We ask Pembrokeshire County Council to support the proposal for the Crown Estate assets to be devolved to the people of Wales, so that profits can be used to invest in the economy and communities of Wales.

“A poll in 2023 showed that 75 per cent of the population were in favour of taking control of the assets of the Crown estate rather than the profits going to the Treasury and the Crown.

“Local authorities are under huge financial pressure and placing the Crown Estate in the hands of Wales would be a significant step to address the lack of investment in our local government.

“We call upon the Welsh Government to ask Westminster to devolve the assets and revenue of the Crown Estates as a matter of urgency, as was done in Scotland in 2017.

“We demand that Wales is treated fairly and accepts management of the Crown Estate land for the benefit of the people of Wales.”

Councillors have previously heard the Crown Estates derives nearly £60,000 from some 16 leases in Pembrokeshire.

Ceredigion councillors are also calling for the Crown Estate to be devolved to Wales, with a motion to hand control of the Crown Estate to Wales, similar to what happens in Scotland, passed unopposed in December 2024.

The Crown Estate, which includes 65 per cent of Wales’ riverbeds, beaches, and over 50,000 acres of land valued at over £853 million, currently generates significant profits that flow directly to the UK Treasury and the Royal Family.

Proceeds from the Crown Estate, which dates to the 17th century, are split by 25 per cent funding the Royal Family and 75 per cent to the UK Treasury.

In 2024/25, the Estate reported record profits, with a net increase of £658.1 million, bringing total earnings to £1.1 billion.

In 2024, the section of the Crown Estate already devolved to the Scottish Government generated an estimated £108.3 million into the public coffers in Scotland.

A YouGov poll found that 58 per cent of respondents supported devolving the Crown Estate to Wales.

Cllr M S Davies said: “The figures speak for themselves.

“Wales could receive an estimated £50 million annually through the devolution of the Crown Estate.

“Considering the extreme financial challenges and tight budgets faced by councils, which in turn intensify hardships for residents, devolving the Crown Estate is a no brainer.”

Cllr Alun Williams added: "Devolving the Crown Estate to Wales is not just a matter of fairer funding; it’s about aligning resources with our unique challenges and needs.

“With 60 miles of coastline, Ceredigion stands to benefit significantly from control over the marine assets of the Crown Estate, promoting sustainability, economic regeneration, and addressing our profound social care challenges.”

Powys County Council also backed calls to devolve the Crown Estate in December 2024, with then councillor and now Senedd Member Elwyn Vaughan calling on the council “to write to the Welsh Government outlining our support to help persuade Westminster to devolve the Crown Estate as a matter of urgency.”

Cllr Vaughan said: “Don’t complain about injustice or lack of funding if you’re not willing to do something about it.

“It’s about fairness within these isles and ensuring our communities benefit from these resources rather than seeing the wealth seep away.”

Cyngor Gwynedd passed a similar motion in October 2024, saying that “we believe responsibility for the Crown Estate should be devolved to the Welsh Government.”

“Any profits generated by the Crown Estate, here on Welsh lands and waters, should remain in Wales, for the benefit of our residents and communities,” the notice of motion by Cllr Dewi Jones said.

In 2024 it was revealed that Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire councils together pay £105,589.29 in fees to the Crown Estate each year to allow public access to their land, according to new data.

2023 figures show that Gwynedd paid a total of over £161,000 to the Crown Estate in lease fees, ranging from £35 for 'Bangor beach front', to £8,500 for 'Dwyfor beach front', to £144,000 for 'Hafan Pwllheli'.

Cyngor Gwynedd, in the 2024 notice of motion, agreed that “in a period of severe financial hardship for public services, we believe that it is immoral that such fees go towards the maintenance of the British Monarchy and to the coffers of the Treasury in London.”

“This money should remain in Gwynedd to support the people of Gwynedd,” the motion said.

YesCymru Chair, Phyl Griffiths, says the case for devolving control of the assets to the Senedd is “overwhelming”, adding that the current system of ownership is “unjust” and that the huge profits they generate should benefit Welsh communities.

“The majority of people in Wales support this position as does a large majority in the Senedd.

“The Crown Estate’s Scottish assets were devolved to Scotland back in 2016 and there is no reason for something similar not to happen in Wales.

“These assets are already worth a considerable amount and it’s clear that over the coming decades, their value is likely to grow even more.

“Gaining control of them is essential for us to put a strong and secure foundation in place for building the fair, prosperous, and forward-thinking independent Wales we want to see.”

Earlier this year, Plaid Cymru’s Crown Estate Wales Bill passed its third reading in the House of Lords, completing all stages.

The Bill, first introduced by Dafydd Wigley, calls on the UK Government to transfer responsibility for the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government.

In response to the passing of the Bill in the House of Lords, Lord Livermore, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury said that the UK Government does not support the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales.

However, Plaid Cymru MP Llinos Medi is set to reintroduce the Bill as a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Commons.

A rally was held in Aberystwyth in February last year calling for the devolution of the Crown Estate.

Speaking at the rally, then Ceredigion and now Ceredigion Penfro MS, Elin Jones, said: “The asset value in Wales [of the Crown Estate] was worth £21m in 2007 and it’s worth £853m by 2023.

“And the profit of the Crown Estate has tripled just between the years of 2020 and 2024 to £1.1bn by now.

“This growth is being fuelled by the use of the Crown Estate for renewable energy primarily, both on land and on sea.

“So, an asset that has been reasonably dormant in Wales is now increasing in value and is being extracted from Wales to the UK treasury and the sovereign fund.

“Since 2015-16 that Crown Estate in Scotland has been in the ownership of the Scottish Government and the contribution last year to the Scottish treasury was £100m.

“That is what at stake at this point is the reality of once again our assets being extracted to the public purse of the UK treasury and sovereign fund rather than the public purse of Wales and its public services.”

Ceredigion MP Ben Lake said: “There is no way of claiming that at the moment that the constitutional set up of the United Kingdom that Wales has a fair pay.

“Scotland gained powers back in 2016 and has already been making use of that addition revenue and targeting that revenue according to her priorities.

“We can’t do that in Wales.”

Crown Estate Chief Executive Dan Labbad, in the Wales Review for 2025/26, said that “it has been an important year of progress for The Crown Estate in Wales.”

He said that “significant strides” had been made to “strengthen our operations” in Wales, including “securing agreements for three floating offshore wind projects in the Celtic Sea”.

The review says that Mr Labbad and the Crown Estate’s Director of Devolved Nations gave evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee in Westminster.

Mr Labbad said: “Our message to the Committee was clear: priorities like floating offshore wind and nature recovery can only be delivered through collaboration and a shared vision.

“To that end, we have established a regular rhythm of engagement with Welsh Government and local authority officials across a range of portfolios.

“Our reception at the Senedd in July 2025 provided an important opportunity to hear directly from Members.

“To further strengthen our approach, we recently established a new Wales Forum, bringing together a broad range of local perspectives and expertise.

“This will meet formally for the first time in June 2026, helping to ensure Welsh voices shape our activities.”

While moves have been made to strengthen Wales’ voice on Crown Estate matters, any move to devolve responsibility has so far been given short shrift.