In December:

• HM Land Registry completed more than 1,274,000 applications to change or query the Land Register
• the South East topped the table of regional applications with 289,089

HM Land Registry completed 1,274,031 applications in December compared with 1,938,344 in November and 1,266,641 last December, of which:

• 306,302 were applications for register updates compared with 388,864 in November
• 578,979 were applications for an official copy of a register compared with 1,032,036 in November
• 199,533 were search and hold queries (official searches) compared with 233,315 in November
• 18,104 were postal applications from non-account holders compared with 23,187 in November

Applications by region and country

Region/country	October applications	November applications	December applications
South East	434,514	442,882	289,089
Greater London	354,278	441,362	230,749
North West	211,584	204,499	145,147
South West	181,198	174,105	125,765
West Midlands	164,722	157,744	109,261
Yorkshire and the Humber	146,736	140,167	104,949
East Midlands	138,230	131,654	95,112
North	88,613	85,231	60,968
East Anglia	78,836	74,312	53,130
Isles of Scilly	68	62	69
Wales	87,888	86,231	59,740
England and Wales (not assigned)	70	95	52
Total	1,886,737	1,938,344	1,274,031

Top 5 local authority areas

Top 5 local authority areas	October applications	Top 5 Local authority areas	November applications	Top 5 local authority areas	December applications
Birmingham	29,660	Hounslow	71,338	Birmingham	20,015
City of Westminster	27,143	Richmond upon Thames	41,992	City of Westminster	15,677
Leeds	22,448	Birmingham	28,388	Leeds	15,669
Cornwall	18,933	Windsor and Maidenhead	27,253	Cornwall	13,531
Manchester	18,026	City of Westminster	24,887	Manchester	13,468

Top 5 customers

Top 5 customers	October applications	Top 5 customers	November applications	Top 5 customers	December applications
Enact	58,531	WSP Management Services Ltd	114,339	Enact	39,404
Infotrack Limited	36,857	Enact	52,463	Infotrack Limited	25,145
O’Neill Patient	29,191	Infotrack Limited	36,291	Optima Legal Services	21,820
Optima Legal Services	27,833	SupportaTerraquest	27,451	O’Neill Patient	21,302
HBOS plc	23,019	Optima Legal Services	27,179	Eversheds Sutherland	14,877

Access the full dataset on data.gov.uk

Next publication

Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The January data will be published at 11am on Thursday 21 February 2019.

Published 22 January 2019

New employment figures confirmed 2018 had the UK’s strongest jobs market on record with latest updates today (22 January) showing:

• UK employment rate at an all-time high, with more people in work than ever before
• wage growth has outstripped inflation for the tenth month in a row
• unemployment rate is 4.0%

The UK has continued to beat its own record-breaking job figures with a new record employment rate of 75.8% and 32.53 million people in work in November, more than ever before.

Minister of State for Employment Alok Sharma welcomed the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which also showed real wages increased for the tenth month in a row just before Christmas. Regular pay grew 3.3% on the year – its fastest growth in almost a decade.

The unemployment rate remained at a joint 43-year low of 4.0% with the employment rate reaching a new record high of 75.8%. And with vacancies at a joint record high, 853,000, the data also shows job opportunities continue to be out there.

Minister of State for Employment Alok Sharma said:

Once again, we see a new record employment rate in the UK, 75.8 per cent, with more people in work than ever before. UK workers also got a much needed pay boost before Christmas with wages outpacing inflation for the tenth month in a row in November, growing at the fastest rate in a decade.

There are 328,000 more people in work over the past year, almost entirely driven by full-time jobs as the government delivers an economy that works for the British people.

Our pro-business policies have helped boost private sector employment by 3.8 million since 2010, and as the Resolution Foundation’s latest report shows, the ‘jobs-boom has helped some of the most disadvantaged groups find employment’, providing opportunities across society.

Today’s figures also reveal the youth unemployment level has almost halved since 2010, with female employment at a near record high of 71.2%.

Over 3.4 million more people have entered work since 2010, meaning an average of 1,000 more people in work every day. Sectors across the economy are benefiting, with 23,000 more manufacturing jobs in the last year and 22,000 more jobs in the hospitality sector.

The statistics also reveal three quarters of jobs created since 2010 are full time, permanent roles that are in higher skilled occupations, which typically bring higher earnings – all ambitions of the government’s Industrial Strategy which seeks to create better, well-paying jobs fit for the future.

The government is helping even more people benefit from a well-paid job by:

• backing businesses to create good jobs with our modern Industrial Strategy, while ensuring they play by the rules, so we are closing tax loopholes, strengthening workers’ rights, and tightening the rules big businesses must follow
• investing in the infrastructure, training and apprenticeships we need for our future, with public investment at the highest sustained level in 40 years
• introducing Universal Credit which is helping people move into work faster and stay in it longer, while recent Budget measures mean 2.4 million families will keep up to an extra £630 per year of what they earn
• helping people stay in work longer with our Fuller Working Lives strategy, which supports employers to recruit, re-train and retain older workers
• tackling inequalities in employment highlighted by the Race Disparity Audit, through targeted support in 20 areas around the country and £90 million announced by the Prime Minister to help young people
• arranging work experience sessions for students through Jobcentre Plus, in over 1,400 schools

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New employment figures confirmed 2018 had the UK’s strongest jobs market on record with latest figures showing more people in work than ever before.

A trade arrangement between the UK and New Zealand which helps boost international trade will continue when the UK leaves the European Union, supporting jobs in both countries.

The agreement maintains all relevant aspects of the current EU-New Zealand mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment (MRA).

It helps facilitate trade flows between the two nations and means UK exporters can ensure goods are compliant with New Zealand’s technical regulations before they depart the UK, saving businesses time, money and resources. New Zealand exporters to the UK benefit in the same way.

The agreement covers sectors accounting for around £169m of UK exports to New Zealand – more than 17% of total UK exports to the country – and was signed by International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox and New Zealand’s High Commissioner.

It coincides with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s visit to London today.

The agreement will ensure UK and New Zealand businesses can continue to benefit from existing arrangements for mutual recognition as they do currently in any Brexit scenario.

It covers valuable sectors such as UK medicinal products and machinery exports, worth an estimated £146m per year.

A similar agreement signed last week with Australia. The agreement has received warm words from business groups including the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI), which supports over 280 members, many of which trade under the agreement.

International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

Today, our countries are laying down a clear commitment to each other’s trading relationship which has already grown to £2.7bn.

This agreement provides UK and New Zealand businesses the certainty they need to continue to access each other’s markets as the UK leaves the EU.

The UK is also prioritising a new free trade agreement with New Zealand after we leave the EU as well as potential accession to the trans-Pacific trading bloc, CPTPP, which counts New Zealand as one of its members.

Chief Executive of ABHI, Peter Ellingworth said:

The UK’s HealthTech industry has an international reputation for quality, and it is critically important that the sector is supported in exporting to key markets.

The agreements with Australia and New Zealand are therefore welcome news, enabling two-way trade and the continued supply of products to patients.

New Zealand is one of the first countries the UK is looking to secure a free trade agreement with after it leaves the EU, and the UK is currently analysing the results of a public consultation on the future agreement. New Zealand launched their own consultation on the 23rd November 2018.

The International Trade Secretary has signed an arrangement which will help boost trade between the UK and New Zealand.