Press release: Regulators approve new nuclear power station design

The UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (UK ABWR), designed by Hitachi-GE, is suitable for construction in the UK, the regulators confirmed today following completion of an in-depth assessment of the nuclear reactor design.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales, the regulators who undertake the Generic Design Assessment of new reactor designs, are satisfied that this reactor meets regulatory expectations on safety, security and environmental protection at this stage of the regulatory process.

ONR has issued a Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) and the environment agencies have issued a Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) to Hitachi-GE.
Horizon Nuclear Power is proposing to build and operate two of these reactors in Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey and Oldbury-on-Severn near Thornbury in South Gloucestershire.

Dr Jo Nettleton, Deputy Director for Radioactive Substances and Installations Regulation at the Environment Agency said:

We’ve concluded that the generic design of the UK ABWR should be capable of meeting the high standards of environment protection and waste management that we require in the UK. We only came to this conclusion after carefully reviewing the submissions provided by Hitachi-GE and their responses to the questions and issues we raised. We’ve also carefully considered all the comments we received from people during our public consultation and we’re grateful for all who took part for taking time to respond.

Mark Foy, ONR’s Chief Nuclear Inspector said:

The completion of the generic design assessment of the UK ABWR is a significant step in our regulation of the overall process to construct this type of reactor in the UK, ensuring that the generic design meets the highest standards of safety that we expect in this country. We’re already working on our assessment of Horizon’s site licence application and on the development of the site specific safety case to progress, in due course, the construction and operation of these reactors at Wylfa Newydd.

Tim Jones, Natural Resources Wales’s Executive Director for North and Mid Wales, said:

It is our job to ensure that any new nuclear power station will meet high standards of environmental protection and waste management, ensuring that our communities and environment are kept safe.

Following a public consultation on our initial findings, we have concluded that the UK ABWR design is acceptable. We will now work on the detailed assessments of the permits, licences and consents that Horizon Nuclear Power will need to have in place to build Wylfa Newydd.

The regulators have documented progress of each stage of their assessment through a series of reports.

ENDS

Notes to editors

  1. The regulators began assessment of Hitachi-GE’s UK ABWR in 2013.
  2. Generic Design Assessment (GDA) is a joint process between the Office for Nuclear (ONR) Regulation, Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
  3. The Office for Nuclear Regulation is the nuclear safety and security regulator for the UK.
  4. The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are the environmental regulators of nuclear sites in England and Wales respectively.
  5. Information on Generic Design Assessment on the joint regulators’ website
  6. All assessment reports, decision documents and a copy of the Design Acceptance Confirmation (DAC) and Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) are available online.
    Office for Nuclear Regulation
    Environment Agency
    Natural Resources Wales
  7. The DAC and SoDA are valid for a period of ten years from issue and can be extended subject to review and agreement of the regulators. The Statement of Design Acceptability (SoDA) is being issued jointly by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales. GDA applies to both England and Wales.
  8. The issuing of a DAC and SoDA does not mean that construction of a new nuclear power station can start. In addition to GDA the operator (Horizon Nuclear Power in this case) must obtain a nuclear site licence and relevant consents from ONR, environmental permits from the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales and planning permission (Development Consent Order) from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Secretary of State. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-for-operators-of-new-nuclear-power-stations
  9. Horizon Nuclear Power submitted an application for a Nuclear Site Licence to build and construct a UK ABWR power station at Wylfa Newydd to ONR in March 2017. ONR is in the process of assessing the application.
  10. Horizon Nuclear Power submitted an application to NRW for a Radioactive Substances Regulation environmental permit in November 2017.
  11. For more information, please contact the ONR press office on onr@onr.gov.uk or 020 3028 0505.
  12. For the Environment Agency media team contact newsdesk@environment-agency.gov.uk or 020 3025 5623

Link: Press release: Regulators approve new nuclear power station design
Source: Environment Agency

The Companies Act 1989 (Financial Markets and Insolvency) (Amendment) Regulations 2017

These Regulations make amendments to Part 7 of the Companies Act 1989 (c.40) as a consequence of amendments made to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 149/2013 of 19 December 2012 by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2155 of 22 September 2017 (O.J. 21.11.2017 L 304/13) and the adoption of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2154 of 22 September 2017 supplementing Regulation (EU) No. 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards on indirect clearing arrangements (O.J. 21.11.2017 L 304/6).

Link: The Companies Act 1989 (Financial Markets and Insolvency) (Amendment) Regulations 2017
Source: Legislation .gov.uk

Press release: UK House Price Index for October 2017

The October data shows:

  • an annual price rise of 4.5%, which takes the average property value in the UK to £223,807
  • house prices have fallen by 0.5% since September 2017

England

The data for England shows:

  • an annual price rise of 4.7% which takes the average property value to £240,860
  • house prices have fallen by 0.6% since September 2017

The regional data indicates that:

  • the East Midlands experienced the greatest rise in average property price over the last 12 months, up by 7%
  • the East Midlands and the South West experienced the greatest monthly price rise, both up by 0.2%
  • London saw the lowest annual price rise, up by 2.1%
  • the North West saw the most significant monthly price fall, down by 2%

Price change by region for England

Region Average price October 2017 Annual change % since October 2016 Monthly change % since September 2017
East Midlands £184,544 7.0 0.2
East of England £289,168 6.1 0.1
London £481,102 2.1 -0.9
North East £127,224 2.4 -0.1
North West £154,056 3.9 -2.0
South East £322,311 4.6 -0.5
South West £251,376 6.7 0.2
West Midlands £186,351 5.2 -1.1
Yorkshire and the Humber £155,281 3.3 -1.1

Repossession sales by volume for England

The lowest number of repossession sales in August 2017 was in the East of England.

Repossession sales August 2017
East Midlands 52
East of England 10
London 48
North East 72
North West 103
South East 46
South West 44
Yorkshire and the Humber 99
West Midlands 70
England 544

Average price by property type for England

Property type October 2017 October 2016 Difference %
Detached £367,156 £346,217 6.0
Semi-detached £223,823 £212,661 5.2
Terraced £192,376 £184,854 4.1
Flat/maisonette £225,974 £218,226 3.6
All £240,860 £229,944 4.7

Funding and buyer status for England

Transaction type Average price October 2017 Annual price change % since October 2016 Monthly price change % since September 2017
Cash £226,642 4.8 -0.6
Mortgage £248,023 4.7 -0.6
First-time buyer £201,657 4.3 -0.8
Former owner occupier £273,851 5.1 -0.5

Building status for England

Building status* Average price August 2017 Annual price change % since August 2016 Monthly price change % since July 2017
New build £307,624 11.2 -0.5
Existing resold property £239,032 4.8 0.6

*Figures for the two most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Sales volumes for England

The most up-to-date HM Land Registry sales figures available for England show:

  • the number of completed house sales in August 2017 fell by 12% to 70,117 compared with 79,655 in August 2016
  • there were 544 repossession sales in August 2017
Month Sales 2017 England Sales 2016 England Difference %
July 68,180 77,919 -12.5
August 70,117 79,655 -12.0

London

The data for London shows:

  • an annual price rise of 2.1% which takes the average property value to £481,102
  • house prices have fallen by 0.9% since September 2017

Average price by property type for London

Property type October 2017 October 2016 Difference %
Detached £915,473 £883,336 3.6
Semi-detached £585,885 £565,977 3.5
Terraced £493,627 £482,452 2.3
Flat/maisonette £424,076 £417,532 1.6
All £481,102 £471,008 2.1

Funding and buyer status for London

Transaction type Average price October 2017 Annual price change % since October 2016 Monthly price change % since September 2017
Cash £505,652 2.1 -0.6
Mortgage £473,471 2.1 -0.9
First-time buyer £419,793 1.6 -1.0
Former owner occupier £544,293 2.7 -0.7

Building status for London

Building status* Average price August 2017 Annual price change % since August 2016 Monthly price change % since July 2017
New build £513,719 8.9 -1.5
Existing resold property £486,855 3.2 0.0

*Figures for the two most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Sales volumes for London

The most up-to-date HM Land Registry sales figures available for London show;

  • the number of completed house sales in August 2017 fell by 15.8% to 7,186 compared with 8,535 in August 2016
Month Sales 2017 London Sales 2016 London Difference %
July 7,214 8,794 -18.0
August 7,186 8,535 -15.8

Wales

The data for Wales shows:

  • an annual price rise of 4.5% which takes the average property value to £153,316
  • house prices have risen by 0.8% since September 2017

Average price by property type for Wales

Property type October 2017 October 2016 Difference %
Detached £232,632 £221,467 5.0
Semi-detached £147,751 £140,764 5.0
Terraced £117,344 £113,437 3.4
Flat/maisonette £112,457 £106,393 5.7
All £153,316 £146,658 4.5

Funding and buyer status for Wales

Transaction type Average price October 2017 Annual price change % since October 2016 Monthly price change % since September 2017
Cash £149,636 4.4 1.0
Mortgage £155,503 4.6 0.7
First-time buyer £132,074 4.1 0.7
Former owner occupier £178,185 5.0 1.0

Building status for Wales

Building status* Average price August 2017 Annual price change % since August 2016 Monthly price change % since July 2017
New build £205,859 11.6 1.1
Existing resold property £148,981 4.2 1.1

*Figures for the two most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Sales volumes for Wales

The most up-to-date HM Land Registry sales figures available for Wales show:

  • the number of completed house sales in August 2017 fell by 3.4% to 3,982 compared with 4,122 in August 2016
  • there were 68 repossession sales in August 2017
Month Sales 2017 Wales Sales 2016 Wales Difference %
July 3,785 4,057 -6.7
August 3,982 4,122 -3.4

Access the full UK HPI

The UK Property Transaction Statistics showed that the number of seasonally adjusted transactions on UK properties with a value of £40,000 or greater has increased by 9.2% in the year to October 2017. Between September 2017 and October 2017, property transactions increased by 1.7%.

The Bank of England’s Agents’ summary of business conditions reported that housing market demand has strengthened overall but with a divergence between the regions, as there are signs of excess supply in London and the South East but excess demand in the majority of other UK regions.

Looking more closely at regional levels of the UK, the largest annual growth was in the East Midlands at 7%, up from 6.3% in September 2017. It was followed by the South West, which showed annual growth of 6.7%. The slowest annual growth was in London at 2.1%, a fall from 2.9% in September 2017. This is the 11th consecutive month where the growth in London house prices has remained below the UK average. The second slowest annual growth was in the North East at 2.4%.

See the economic statement.

Notes to editors

  1. The UK House Price Index (HPI) is published on the second or third Tuesday of each month with Northern Ireland figures updated quarterly. The November 2017 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on 16 January 2018. See calendar of release dates.
  2. From this month, we are making some changes to improve the accuracy of the UK HPI. We are not publishing average price and percentage change for new build and existing resold property as we have previously done, because there are not currently enough new build transactions to provide a reliable result. This means that in this month’s UK HPI, the earliest new build/existing resold property breakdown is for August 2017, in line with the sales volumes currently available.
  3. 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.
  4. Sales volume data is also available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions involving the creation of a new register, such as new builds, are more complex and require more time to process. Read Revisions to the UK HPI data.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. The UK HPI is calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) andLand & 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 the ONS and Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency.
  8. The UK Property Transaction statisticsare taken from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) monthly estimates of the number of residential and non-residential property transactions in the UK and its constituent countries. The number of property transactions in the UK is highly seasonal, with more activity in the summer months and less in the winter. This regular annual pattern can sometimes mask the underlying movements and trends in the data series so HMRC also presents the UK aggregate transaction figures on a seasonally adjusted basis. Adjustments are made for both the time of year and the construction of the calendar, including corrections for the position of Easter and the number of trading days in a particular month.
  9. UK HPI seasonally adjusted series are calculated at regional and national levels only. See data tables
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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).
  14. Repossession data is based on the number of transactions lodged with HM Land Registry by lenders exercising their power of sale.
  15. 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.
  16. The data can be downloaded as a .csv file. Repossession data prior to April 2016 is not available. Find out more information about repossessions.
  17. 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.
  18. HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.
  19. HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.
  20. HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £4 trillion, including around £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 84% of the land mass of England and Wales.
  21. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry
  22. Follow us on:

Senior Press Officer

Marion Shelley
Head Office

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Press Officer

Paula Dorman
Head Office

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Link: Press release: UK House Price Index for October 2017
Source: Gov Press Releases

Press release: PM announces new measures to tackle effects and causes of climate change

  • £140 million of new funding to help the world’s poorest communities address the effects of climate change
  • Expansion of UK and Canada-led Alliance to reduce international use of unabated coal
  • UK to host international Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in Autumn 2018

The Prime Minister will attend the One Planet Summit in Paris today where she will announce a raft of new measures to tackle both the effects and causes of climate change.

The UK will provide a £140 million boost to poorer communities around the world which are disproportionately affected by climate change whether through deforestation or vulnerability to natural disasters and climate extremes. This will include an additional £30 million through DFID’s Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) programme.

This funding will help two million more of the world’s poorest people to cope with climate shocks, bringing the total to 7 million people supported with irrigation for better harvests, support in planting more resilient crops, improved forecasting and help to develop insurance schemes. And by helping to build resilience to extreme weather we will reduce the need for communities to call on emergency humanitarian support when disaster strikes, reducing dependence on aid.

The Prime Minister will also announce £15 million of additional support for reconstruction on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean, one of the regions that is most affected by extreme weather associated with climate change. This money will support reconstruction of the island’s water system which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria. UK funding will help rebuild the system to make it better able to withstand future extreme weather events.

To help other individual countries and territories in the Caribbean become more resilient the UK will give £8 million of additional funding for activities including better crisis and response operations on the islands; training and improvements to communications systems; casualty management training; and mapping of high risk areas.

Poor communities are also disproportionately affected by climate change through deforestation, with one billion people around the world reliant on forests for their livelihoods. That is why today the Prime Minister will commit a further £87 million through DFID’s Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) Programme. This money will help local communities who depend on forests to accelerate efforts in the fight against illegal logging and support trade in legal timber.

In her remarks at the Summit the PM will underline how the UK is leading an international effort to meet the commitments made under the Paris Agreement. She is expected to set out how the UK and Canada-led Powering Past Coal Alliance is driving the international community and big business to phase out the use of unabated coal.

Since being launched at a UN climate change conference last month in Bonn nearly 30 countries and regions have signed up and today will see a number of additional partners join the alliance including Sweden, California and large businesses such as EDF and Unilever.

And the Prime Minister will demonstrate the UK’s commitment to putting clean growth at the heart of our Industrial Strategy by announcing that the UK will host a global Zero Emission Vehicle Summit next autumn, bringing together Ministers, industry leaders and sector representatives from around the world to further the development of the low emission and electric car market. The Summit will cement the UK’s position as a world leader in the low emission and electric vehicle industry and build on the government’s manifesto commitment for almost all cars and vans to be zero emission by 2050.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

Tackling climate change and mitigating its effects for the world’s poorest are among the most critical challenges that we face. That is why I am joining other world leaders in Paris today for the One Planet Summit and committing to stand firmly with those on the front line of extreme weather and rising sea levels.

And by redoubling our efforts to phase out coal, as well as build on our world leading electric car production, we are showing we can cut emissions in a way that supports economic growth.

Link: Press release: PM announces new measures to tackle effects and causes of climate change
Source: Gov Press Releases

The Charitable Incorporated Organisations (Conversion) Regulations 2017

These Regulations make provision for the conversion of certain types of incorporated body into a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (“CIO”). A CIO is a legal form created specifically to meet the needs of charities under the Charities Act 2006 (the provisions have now been consolidated into the Charities Act 2011).

Link: The Charitable Incorporated Organisations (Conversion) Regulations 2017
Source: Legislation .gov.uk

The Corporate Interest Restriction (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2017

These Regulations make provision for consequential amendments in connection with new Part 10 of the Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010 (“TIOPA 2010”) inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act 2017 which make provision for the restriction of relief for interest and finance costs of multinational companies.

Link: The Corporate Interest Restriction (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2017
Source: Legislation .gov.uk

The Indirect Taxes (Notifiable Arrangements) Regulations 2017

The Regulations are made further to the provisions contained in Schedule 17 (“the Schedule”) to the Finance (No. 2) Act 2017 (c. 32). The Schedule makes provision in respect of the disclosure of avoidance schemes, being schemes which enable a person to obtain a tax advantage (defined in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the Schedule), concerning VAT and other indirect taxes (a list of indirect taxes to which the Schedule applies is set out at paragraph 2(1) of the Schedule). Regulations may be made under the Schedule to prescribe notifiable arrangements. Information in relation to such arrangements must be notified to HMRC. The Indirect Taxes (Disclosure of Avoidance Schemes) Regulations 2017 provide for the information to be notified.

Link: The Indirect Taxes (Notifiable Arrangements) Regulations 2017
Source: Legislation .gov.uk

The Indirect Taxes (Disclosure of Avoidance Schemes) Regulations 2017

The Regulations are made further to the provisions contained in Schedule 17 (“the Schedule”) to the Finance (No. 2) Act 2017 (c. 32). The Schedule makes provision in respect of the disclosure of avoidance schemes, being schemes which enable a person to obtain a tax advantage (defined in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the Schedule), concerning VAT and other indirect taxes (a list of indirect taxes to which the Schedule applies is set out at paragraph 2(1) of the Schedule).

Link: The Indirect Taxes (Disclosure of Avoidance Schemes) Regulations 2017
Source: Legislation .gov.uk