Jun132017
The Defence Minister Shri Arun Jaitley unveiled a compilation of the contribution of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) to the Indian Armed and Paramilitary Forces here today. The DRDO Chairman and Secretary,
Jun132017
BCC’s Head of Economics, Suren Thiru, comments on the inflation statistics out today which show inflation rose to 2.9% in May 2017.
Commenting on the inflation statistics for May 2017, released today by the Office for National Statistics, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
“Inflation rose for the second successive month, confirming that price growth is firmly on an upward trend. The rise in May mostly reflects increasing prices for recreational and cultural goods and services in the month.
“The continued increase in factory gate prices suggests consumer price growth is likely to maintain its current upward trend for some time to come. Significantly, if the current political uncertainty persists, this is likely to increase the downward pressure on sterling’s value, pushing inflation even higher over the next year.
“Higher inflation is a key business concern as it squeezes margins and weakens their ability to invest, particularly during this time of heightened political uncertainty. The BCC’s Quarterly Economic Survey confirms that businesses continue to feel the inflationary pressures, with a significant proportion of firms struggling to absorb the rising cost of raw materials and other overheads – a task made more challenging by the myriad of upfront costs imposed on businesses.
“A key focus of the new government must therefore be on easing the current pressure on firms’ cost base by tackling the burden of upfront costs and taxes associated with doing business in the UK. It is also imperative that the MPC provides monetary stability during this period of political instability by continuing to ‘look through’ the expected increases in inflation and keep interest rates on hold.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) sits at the heart of a powerful network of 52 Accredited Chambers of Commerce across the UK, representing thousands of businesses of all sizes and within all sectors. Our Global Business Network connects exporters with nearly 40 markets around the world. For more information, visit: www.britishchambers.org.uk
Media contacts:
Allan Williams – Senior Press Manager
020 7654 5812 / 07920583381
Orla Hennessy – Press and Communications Officer
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Jun132017
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Jun132017
Today marks the first anniversary of publishing the UK House Price Index (UK HPI) that is calculated by HM Land Registry, the Office for National Statistics, Registers of Scotland and Land & Property Services Northern Ireland. This statistic shows the changes to the value of residential properties in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Throughout the year we’ve spoken to users and gathered their feedback. In September 2016, users were formally invited to evaluate the report, these responses are captured in the Summary of responses that is being used to plan index upgrades.
We have made a number of enhancements to the index during the year that is accessed by approximately 1,000 new users each month in addition to more than 6,600 regular users.
In response to your feedback our December 2016 developments included:
the provision of more details about our methodology in Calculating the UK HPI
navigation improvements, such as a new link to our interactive tool from the UK HPI reports page
new links to key sections of the About the UK HPI page, like the revision policy.
In addition February 2017, saw the first publication of our UK House Price Index annual review that compares the historic performance of the index with the UK HPI throughout 2016.
Today’s enhancements are:
we extending our revision period to 13 months from today, following a review of our revision policy (see Revisions to the UKI HPI data). This ensures the data used is more comprehensive, improving the capture of new builds.
we will also introduce new revision tables for England and Wales within our downloadable data, so that you can easily identify and evaluate the impact of each change. Tables will be available in csv format.
new functionality will allow you to toggle between a chart or table, depending on your preference for visual or textual information.
We’ve updated the information in About the UK HPI to keep you informed about the process we’re undertaking to remove our experimental status. These enhancements take us a step closer towards that goal. Once removed, we can progress with our second phase of assessment as a National Statistic.
We are committed to the continued improvement of the index and aim to introduce more enhancements over the coming months. In the meantime, thank you for your valuable feedback.To enable even greater engagement we will soon create an online forum to assist ongoing conversations. In the interim, you can contact us if you have any questions.
Jun132017
UK Property Transaction statistics showed that in April 2017 the total number of seasonally adjusted property transactions completed in the UK with value of £40,000 or above increased by 20.3% compared to April 2016. The unusually low level of transactions in April 2016 was associated with the introduction of the higher tax rates on additional properties introduced in this month. Comparing April 2017 to March 2017, property transactions fell by 3.2%.See the economic statement.
Sales during February 2017, the most up-to-date HM Land Registry figures available, show that:
The UK House Price Index (HPI) is published on the second or third Tuesday of each month with Northern Ireland figures updated quarterly. The May 2017 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on 18 July 2017. See calendar of release dates.
The UK HPI revision period has been extended to 13 months, following a review of the revision policy (see calculating the UK HPI section 4.4). This ensures the data used is more comprehensive.
New revision tables have been introduced for England and Wales within the downloadable data. Tables will be available in csv format. See about the UK HPI for more information.
Data for the UK HPI is provided by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.
The UK HPI is calculated by the Office for National Statistics and Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. It applies a hedonic regression model that uses the various sources of data on property price, in particular HM Land Registry’s Price Paid Dataset, and attributes to produce estimates of the change in house prices each month. Find out more about the methodology used from ONS and Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.
The first estimate for new build average price (April 2016 report) was based on a small sample which can cause volatility. A three month moving average has been applied to the latest estimate to remove some of this volatility.
Work has been taking place since 2014 to develop a single, official HPI that reflects the final transaction price for sales of residential property in the UK. Using the geometric mean, it covers purchases at market value for owner-occupation and buy-to-let, excluding those purchases not at market value (such as re-mortgages), where the ‘price’ represents a valuation.
Information on residential property transactions for England and Wales, collected as part of the official registration process, is provided by HM Land Registry for properties that are sold for full market value.
The HM Land Registry dataset contains the sale price of the property, the date when the sale was completed, full address details, the type of property (detached, semi-detached, terraced or flat), if it is a newly built property or an established residential building and a variable to indicate if the property has been purchased as a financed transaction (using a mortgage) or as a non-financed transaction (cash purchase).
Repossession data is based on the number of transactions lodged with HM Land Registry by lenders exercising their power of sale.
For England this is shown as volumes of repossessions recorded by Government Office Region. For Wales there is a headline figure for the number of repossessions recorded in Wales.
The data can be downloaded as a .csv file. Repossession data prior to April 2016 is not available. Find out more information about repossessions.
Background tables of the raw and cleansed aggregated data, in Excel and CSV formats, are also published monthly although Northern Ireland is on a quarterly basis. They are available for free use and re-use under the Open Government Licence.
As a government department established in 1862, executive agency and trading fund responsible to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, HM Land Registry keeps and maintains the Land Register for England and Wales. The Land Register has been open to public inspection since 1990.
With the largest transactional database of its kind detailing more than 24 million titles, HM Land Registry underpins the economy by safeguarding ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property.
For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.
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