Jun132017

Press release: UK House Price Index (HPI) for April 2017

HM Government
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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.

  • Follow us on Twitter @LandRegGov and find us on our blog, LinkedIn and Facebook.

    • Jun132017

    Impact assessment: Marine Management Organisation (MMO) Business Impact Target (BIT) assessments

    DEFRA
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    Updated: Non-qualifying regulatory provisions – Business Impact Target Reporting Period Covered: 9 June 2017 to 20 June 2018 added

    BIT assessments. contribute towards the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) target of £470 million savings to business this parliament. The MMO also have a duty to publish new regulatory measures that are exempt from the enterprise act.

    These are the first BIT assessments for new regulatory measures introduced by the MMO since May 2015. It also includes information on new regulatory measures that are exempt from the Enterprise Act. Both the qualifying and non-qualifying measures have been verified by the Regulatory Policy Committee.

    The publication is a statutory obligation of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act (SBEE) 2015.

    Jun132017

    News story: Fines of over £168,000 imposed for fisheries offences

    DEFRA
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    On 7 June 2017 Kafish B.V. a Dutch company which owns the UK registered trawler Margriet LT36 and its master, Dutch national Peter Kuyt, pleaded guilty to 14 breaches of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 and the Fisheries Act 1981 at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

    The court heard that during two separate investigations carried out by the MMO, Vessel Monitoring System data and logbook entries identified that the vessel had committed numerous offences between 2016 and 2017.

    The first investigation showed that in 2016 the vessel had, on three occasions committed offences of fishing within a seasonal closure area and on one occasion fishing in a real time closure area.

    The second investigation revealed that in 2017 a further eight offences of fishing within a seasonal closure area and another offence of failing to keep an accurate logbook were committed between January and March.

    Sentencing the owner and master, District Judge Sarah-Jane Griffiths said “You have acknowledged that these were serious offences and it is surprising to me that after the offences in 2016 were brought to your attention in June you committed a further 8 offences. To me it is clear that by that time at least you knew you shouldn’t have been in those areas.”

    Despite being registered in the UK and, therefore, being required to comply with a UK fishing licence, the vessel is owned by Kafish B.V., a Dutch company. They were fined £66,000, with an additional fine of £80,000 to cover the value of the fish illegally caught, £3,500 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

    The vessel master, a Dutch national named Peter Kuyt, was fined £8,536.33 with an additional fine of £15,000 to cover the value of the fish illegally caught, £741 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

    A spokesman for the MMO said:

    “The court in this case has sent a clear message that these were serious offences which were aggravated by the fact that the offences were repeated on numerous occasions.

    The size of the fines imposed by the court in this case shows both the scale of damage to the marine environment caused by offences of this nature and the profits made by the perpetrators of these crimes.

    Fisheries offences like these are committed at the expense of the legitimate, law-abiding members of the fishing industry who rely on the sustainability of fishing grounds for their livelihoods and future.

    The MMO will always take appropriate enforcement action including pursuing and bringing prosecutions to court to protect the long term viability of the marine environment for future generations.”

    Jun132017

    News story: Fines of over £168,000 imposed for fisheries offences

    HM Government
    image_pdfimage_print

    On 7 June 2017 Kafish B.V. a Dutch company which owns the UK registered trawler Margriet LT36 and its master, Dutch national Peter Kuyt, pleaded guilty to 14 breaches of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 and the Fisheries Act 1981 at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

    The court heard that during two separate investigations carried out by the MMO, Vessel Monitoring System data and logbook entries identified that the vessel had committed numerous offences between 2016 and 2017.

    The first investigation showed that in 2016 the vessel had, on three occasions committed offences of fishing within a seasonal closure area and on one occasion fishing in a real time closure area.

    The second investigation revealed that in 2017 a further eight offences of fishing within a seasonal closure area and another offence of failing to keep an accurate logbook were committed between January and March.

    Sentencing the owner and master, District Judge Sarah-Jane Griffiths said “You have acknowledged that these were serious offences and it is surprising to me that after the offences in 2016 were brought to your attention in June you committed a further 8 offences. To me it is clear that by that time at least you knew you shouldn’t have been in those areas.”

    Despite being registered in the UK and, therefore, being required to comply with a UK fishing licence, the vessel is owned by Kafish B.V., a Dutch company. They were fined £66,000, with an additional fine of £80,000 to cover the value of the fish illegally caught, £3,500 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

    The vessel master, a Dutch national named Peter Kuyt, was fined £8,536.33 with an additional fine of £15,000 to cover the value of the fish illegally caught, £741 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

    A spokesman for the MMO said:

    “The court in this case has sent a clear message that these were serious offences which were aggravated by the fact that the offences were repeated on numerous occasions.

    The size of the fines imposed by the court in this case shows both the scale of damage to the marine environment caused by offences of this nature and the profits made by the perpetrators of these crimes.

    Fisheries offences like these are committed at the expense of the legitimate, law-abiding members of the fishing industry who rely on the sustainability of fishing grounds for their livelihoods and future.

    The MMO will always take appropriate enforcement action including pursuing and bringing prosecutions to court to protect the long term viability of the marine environment for future generations.”

    Jun132017

    Gas poisoning kills 9 at home reservoir construction site

    East Asia
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    Nine people have died after a gas leak at a construction site on Monday in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, authorities said Tuesday.

    Investigation results said the toxic gas was produced under high temperature after the reservoir was closed for 32 days.

    The leak was discovered when a man, identified by his surnamed Huang, lost consciousness around 9 a.m. Monday while working in reservoir pit at his home in Tangna Village, Pingguo County.

    Eight villagers who attempted to rescue him also fell unconscious.

    The nine were rushed to hospital, where they later died despite medical attention.