Annual Rentcharge

Introduction

Sovereign Harbour residential property owners are covenanted to pay an annual charge (£336 for 2023) to the Sovereign Harbour (Sea Defences) Community Interest Company, a subsidiary of the Sovereign Harbour Trust (SHT), through an ‘Estate Rentcharge’ for flood defence work and harbour and marina maintenance.

Rentcharge Q and A

SHRA has produced a short Q&A document outlining the rentcharge, who does what and what the charge is for. Rentcharge Q&A... 

For details of how the rentcharge came about and further background information, see our rentcharge history page.

The Rentcharge Elements

Our Rentcharge chart....   shows the various elements that make up the rentcharge.

The rentcharge consists of two main parts:

1. The Southern Water (SW) Charge. The SHT covenants with the homeowner to apply the SW Charge towards the cost of executing the Littoral Drift obligations and the maintenance and improvement of the beach and sea defences within the vicinity of the Harbour and towards Harbour maintenance. This was set at £75 per property in 1988 and has varied with changes in the Retail Price Index to which it is linked (i.e. it has steadily increased).

2. The Marina Charge. The Marina Charge is "all costs and expenses reasonably and properly incurred in connection with or incidental to the cleansing, repair and maintenance of the Harbour and the waterways."

3. There is a third part that not everyone pays. The Berth Charge is only applicable to owners of privately owned berths.

Premier Marinas have provided some information on the Marina Charge in this document from the SHT website. Click here... 

Paying the Charge

All residential properties at Sovereign Harbour pay the rentcharge (SW Charge and Marina Charge), except for the first 364 homes built, which, for some technical/legal/historic reason, don’t pay the Marina Charge (they do pay the SW charge).

Whatever you think about the rentcharge, we urge you to make the annual payment, as failure to do so could have serious consequences for you.  Delays in paying only increase the CIC's costs that are passed on to residents. 

To help reduce admin costs and avoid a possible penalty, please pay promptly and online via your bank or from the following website via a credit or debit card: https://www.sovereignharbourtrust.co.uk/rent_charge.asp.

Past Action from SHRA

The SHRA committee continues to investigate the basis for the charge, how the money is spent, and the management of the Trust and the CIC.

January 2020. We wrote to the Sovereign Harbour (Sea Defences) Community Interest Company about some aspects of the charge and received a reply. Click here to read the correspondence... 

April 2020. Following our earlier letter to the Sovereign Harbour Trust CIC, we wrote again in April 2020 asking for more details of the charges and for greater engagement with the residents, including SHRA having regular meetings with the CIC board. Click here to read SHRA's letter... 

August 2020. Following a subsequent exchange of emails, the CIC formally replied to our April letter on 4 August 2020. Click here to read their reply.  

We have continued to press the CIC and Premier Marinas to make the charges more transparent and show how the money we pay is spent.  

January 2021. SHRA continued trying to get the CIC to produce transparent accounts that clearly explain who benefits from the charge. 

February 2021. In the February 2021 edition of our newsletter, Waterlines,  we show some of the results of work we have done to show better where the money goes (see below).

March 2021. SHRA wrote to the CIC complaining that despite our requests for the accounts to be made more transparent, this year's invoices are not much better than in previous years. We also requested some factual information, e.g. the number of properties that pay the charge and the number of non-payers.  Click here to read our letter...   The CIC replied, saying they would be happy to consider any suggestions to improve the transparency of the annual invoices.

2022 - Further correspondence between SHRA and the CIC took place.

2022-23. SHRA's further work on improving the transparency of the rent charge was put on hold while other matters, including two large planning applications, were being dealt with.

It is on SHRA's Agenda

The SHRA committee continues to investigate the basis for the charge, how the money is spent, and the management of the Trust and the CIC. Our primary focus is on greater transparency, and the matter is discussed at every SHRA committee meeting.

In September 2025, after getting nowhere asking the Sovereign Harbour (Sea Defences) CIC and Premier Marinas for greater transparency in the financial information used to calculate the Marina Charge, we wrote to Premier's owner, the Wellcome Trust, asking them to ensure that more information is provided in future. A copy of our letter can be read by clicking here... Almost half of the rentcharge is paid to Premier Marinas... The Wellcome Trust did not respond.

Complaint to Plummer Parsons

09 January 2026 - Complaint to Plummer Parsons - Towards the end of last year, SHRA received several complaints from members about their difficulties in communicating with Plummer Parsons, who act as the contact point for the Sovereign Harbour (Sea Defences) CIC.

SHRA wrote to Plummer Parsons (now part of the Galloways Accounting group) on 11 December to complain about the poor service. A copy of our letter is online here.... We also mentioned our concerns in letters to Premier Marinas and the CIC.

Plummer Parsons replied to our letter on the 18 December as follows (our correction in the 2nd paragraph): 
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"Dear [SHRA]
I am writing to you in response to your letter dated 11 December 2025 regarding complaints that you have received from homeowners in relation to the Sovereign Harbour annual estate rentcharge.

I can only apologise for any delays in responding to homeowners, however we have had an extremely large volume of incoming correspondence resulting in a backlog which we are currently working through. Our response time to emails is currently 28 days. For the homeowners that have contacted you, if any have been waiting for longer than 28 days, please ask them to contact us again as their email [may] have been missed.

Please note that there have been a few homeowners who have outstanding debt that has been referred to solicitors for debt collection. The board and the solicitors have specifically instructed us and informed the homeowners that Galloways is not to respond to them directly until the case is resolved.

We, at Galloways, very highly value all homeowners and members of the SHRA and aim to provide the highest standard service.

If there are any further queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to be in touch.
For and on behalf of Sovereign Harbour (Sea Defences) CIC."
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If you have waited longer than 28 days for a response from Plummer Parsons/Galloways, please contact them again, as it seems they may have "missed" your email. The new email address they used to contact us was: sovereignharbourtrust@wearegalloways.com. If you have any future problems dealing with Galloways or the CIC regarding the annual rentcharge, please let us know. We await responses from the CIC and Premier.

Raised in Parliament

MP Josh Babarinde raises the annual flood defence charges in Parliament.
House of Commons, Thursday 19 March 2026 - The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was asked— Private Sea Defences: Charges.

Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne) (LD). 1. If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing private sea defence charges.

Emma Hardy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. We are committed to supporting coastal communities, and that is why, between April 2024 and March 2026, over £600 million has been invested in protection from sea flooding, tidal flooding and coastal erosion.

Josh Babarinde.  Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne is the only marina of its kind in Europe; thousands of residents, rather than the Government, have to cover the cost of sea defences through an annual charge. The charge this year increased by 16%—way more than inflation—and there is poor transparency as to why.

Will the Minister meet me and representatives of the amazing Sovereign Harbour Residents Association, who are in the Gallery, to hear more about the issues with the harbour charge, and to help us secure a fairer arrangement?

Emma Hardy.  The annual sea defence charge is a legal obligation that was placed on property owners in Sovereign Harbour in 1988, so it was introduced under Thatcher and was unchanged under the coalition. It contributes to the maintenance of the harbour and the sea defences on the south coast between Pevensey Bay and Eastbourne. We spent nearly £5 million this year, and plan to invest over £100 million over the next decade. Of that £5 million, £400,000 comes from the rent charge in 2026-27. We have also secured record funding of £1.4 billion for over 600 flood schemes across all regions in England.

The video of the proceedings can be viewed at: https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/ee3367ce-727d-4337-9915-2333adafa143

The EA's Perspectiveon the Rentcharge Arrangement

See the June 2026 edition of Waterlines...Click here...