Category: Gov Press Releases

The vast majority of new-build houses are to be sold as freehold in a move to tackle unfair practices in the leasehold sector and put cash back into the pockets of over-stretched house buyers.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP will tomorrow (15 October 2018) launch a consultation on plans to improve the leaseholder sector for would-be home owners, which will bring an end to the unjustified selling of new houses as leasehold.

The consultation will also propose that ground rents for new leases will be capped at just £10. On average leaseholders pay over £300 ground rent each year, with some paying as much as £700.

These measures will build upon comprehensive action by the government to make the housing market fairer for everyone.

This includes cracking down on rogue landlords so tenants have the quality of home they deserve, helping existing leaseholders who want to buy their freehold by working with the Law Society to make this process faster, fairer and cheaper, and ensuring tenants are not hit by unfair rental costs.

The Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, Secretary of State for Communities, said:

The government is committed to making the economy work for everyone by helping people with the cost of living.

Unfair ground rents can turn a homeowner’s dream into a nightmare by hitting them in the back pocket, and making their property harder to sell.

That’s why I’m taking concrete action to protect homeowners and end those unscrupulous leasehold practices that can cost tenants hundreds of pounds.

While leasehold generally applies to flats with shared spaces, a number of developers have been increasingly selling houses on these terms – placing further financial burdens on those looking to buy a house of their own through unnecessary surcharges like ground rent.

This can also mean selling their home is more expensive and take longer than selling a freehold property.

Under the government’s proposals, which are subject to consultation, the majority of new houses will be sold as freehold and future ground rents will be reduced to a nominal sum.

The consultation will also seek views on what are the appropriate and fair exemptions, such as shared ownership properties and community led housing to ensure consumers’ best interests are at the heart of the property market.

To further support leaseholders, ministers have also made it easier for them to form recognised tenant associations by reducing the minimum membership required. This will further empower those in leasehold homes to enforce their collective rights and hold landlords to account.

Further information

At present, leaseholders face significant barriers in getting tenants’ associations recognised. While many landlords are happy to engage with residents’ associations in their building, there is no legal requirement for them to do so unless the association is formally recognised.

Under the new rules, landlords will be required to provide contact information of eligible leaseholders to the secretary of the residents’ association within 4 months of the request, providing that leaseholders have expressly consented to their details being shared.

The move will help leaseholders act together to represent common interests and raise complaints with their landlords and agents for things such as service charges and management practices.

See more information on recognised tenant associations.

MHCLG statistics estimate there were 4.2 million residential leasehold properties in England in 2015 to 2016, of which 2.9 million – or around two-thirds – were flats.

The ‘Fixing our broken housing market’ white paper was published in February 2017.

The ‘Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market’ consultation took place between July and September 2017 and received over 6,000 replies, with the vast majority in favour of widespread reform.

Following the consultation, the government announced reforms to the leasehold system in England in December 2017.

The technical consultation on these reforms opens tomorrow (15 October 2018) and will run for 6 weeks. It is open to all including: leaseholders, freeholders, landlords, solicitors/ conveyancers, management companies, developers, local authorities, estate agents, investors/lenders.

Respondents will be able to respond by online survey form, email or written response.

The department will provide a response to the consultation following its conclusion.

In new measures announced today, the Government will make it easier for smaller community and commercial radio stations to broadcast on small scale digital radio multiplexes.

With more than 50% of all radio listening in the UK now on digital, the new lighter touch licensing regime means these small stations won’t be left behind by the growing shift from FM and AM to digital radio and will give more choice to millions of radio listeners across the UK.

Margot James, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, said:

We are breaking down one of the main barriers in the transition of radio from analogue to digital, to secure long-term benefits for the UK’s smaller commercial and community stations and ensure a range of local content for listeners.

No one should be left behind by technological advances, so as part of our modern Industrial Strategy we will give small and local radio businesses affordable, practical access to digital radio networks to reach new and longstanding audiences.

The roll out of small scale multiplexes across the UK could help more than 450 existing small community or commercial radio stations go digital.

Since 2014, Ofcom have been supporting successful trials of small scale radio multiplexes in ten areas of the UK. These trial multiplexes now carry around 160 small radio services offering listeners in these areas a broader range of content and formats.

To put these small scale services on a proper long-term footing, the Government is revising the current legal framework for licensing radio multiplexes – originally drawn up in the mid-1990s.

The new framework will allow Ofcom to reserve capacity on new small scale multiplexes for community stations, helping them to go live on the Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) platform.

Ford Ennals, CEO, Digital Radio UK, said:

We welcome today’s announcement from DCMS supporting the future development and expansion of small-scale DAB. This is good news for radio and good news for listeners as the expansion of small-scale DAB gives listeners a wider range of smaller stations available on DAB and gives small local stations a path to a digital future.

Following the success of the fantastic range of unique and fresh local commercial and community services in the 10 trial areas we can expect to see many hundreds of local stations joining radio’s digital revolution across the UK.

Switch Radio is a community radio station that operates and broadcasts one of the trial multiplexes in Birmingham.

Dean Kavanagh, Head of Content and Technology at Switch Radio, said

Switch Radio welcomes the publication of the DCMS consultation response document. Small Scale DAB is a game-changing innovation that will drive real benefits for listeners and we are delighted that the government is actively supporting the progression of this technology from concept to delivery.

Small scale DAB has been able to provide not just an increase in the quantity of stations that listeners can receive, but also the variety of what is available. We look forward to the further developments that will undoubtedly stem from the publication of this consultation response.

This new streamlined structure for licensing small scale radio multiplexes comes at a time when DAB has greatly increased in popularity. Almost two-thirds of households have a DAB radio and only 43% of listening at home is on analogue. DAB coverage now reaches 90% of the UK.

The proposals will support the rollout of new digital-only radio networks within county areas, helping to expand the community radio sector. The Government will bring forward secondary legislation to make the necessary changes to the licensing regime in 2019.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. A small scale DAB radio multiplex is a more efficient way of transmitting compared to analogue and uses a low cost software-based approach that makes it particularly suitable for smaller radio stations. A multiplex consists of a number of DAB radio stations bundled together to be transmitted digitally on a single frequency to a specific geographic area.
2. Among the measures set out today in its response to the Small Scale DAB Licensing Consultation, the Government has stated it will:
   * Create a new category of small scale DAB multiplex licence for community radio stations – the C-DSP (Community – Digital Sound Programme) licence;
   * Place requirements on new small scale multiplex licences to make a certain proportion of capacity on small scale DAB multiplexes available to community radio stations holding new C-DSP licences.
3. DCMS-funded technical work by Ofcom to test the technology, including 10 field trials in Portsmouth, Aldershot, Brighton & Hove, Bristol , Norfolk, Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge, Glasgow and London. These demonstrated the viability of using an open source software based approach to broadcasting on DAB at a small scale.
4. However, the temporary licensing arrangements for the 10 trials are not a suitable basis for the long-term licensing of small scale DAB radio multiplexes. To address this DCMS supported the successful passage of a Private Member’s Bill, introduced by Kevin Foster MP, through Parliament in early 2017. The Broadcasting (Radio Multiplex Services) Act 2017 gives the DCMS Secretary of State a power to modify through secondary legislation the provisions under existing broadcasting legislation that are concerned with the award of radio multiplex licences.
5. In its Communications Market Report 2018, Ofcom found:

• Nine in ten adults in the UK listen to radio every week for an average of nearly 21 hours a week, and 75% of all audio listening is to live radio;
• DAB coverage is now at 90% of the UK (BBC national DAB coverage is 97%), and almost two-thirds of households have a DAB set;
• Digital radio has enabled many more commercial stations to broadcast nationally, and the share of listening to national commercial stations has increased from 13.0% in Q1 2016 to 17.5% in Q1 2018. As a result of this, radio advertising revenues increased by 1% in real terms in 2017, compared to a 7.5% decline in television advertising revenues.

1. In its Media Nations 2018 report, Ofcom found:

• The total reported income for the community radio sector in 2017 was £11.9m, in line with 2016. Average station income was just under £51k;

• Overall reported sector expenditure for the community radio sector was £11.9m, up 1% in real terms since 2016;

• At home, only 43% of listening is on analogue, as DAB increases in popularity;

• Listeners in Berkshire have the highest proportion of listening digitally, at 60%

The UK has signalled its global leadership and commitment to tackling the Illegal Wildlife Trade with a landmark announcement of UK aid money to draw this week’s conference to a close.

Today, the International Development Secretary has committed £35 million of UK aid to protecting critical forest habitats and species threatened by extinction, including the chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan and tiger.

The further package comes after a week of eye-catching commitments from DFID, which has pledged to tackle the scourges of the Illegal Wildlife Trade, deforestation and wildlife extinction while supporting the world’s poorest communities to thrive.

International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt said:

“Around the world 1.2 billion people rely on forests and natural habitats for their livelihoods. For the thousands of such communities which benefit from industries like tourism, protecting the natural environment is a crucial development issue.

“UK aid-backed projects happening right now across the world, such as those we can announce today, are leading the global fight to protect the natural environment that we all love so much.

“We owe it to future generations to work together to end wildlife crime, to protect essential forest habitats and to bring the world’s poorest communities out of poverty.”

Through UK aid, the UK is driving new, sustainable approaches in some of the world’s richest natural environments and most beautiful areas, which both protect the environment and provide quality, sustainable jobs to local communities.

Today’s announcement echoes the International Development Secretary’s comments earlier this week, when she encouraged the private sector to “lean in” and support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The fresh funding will secure the support of leading businesses and investors to back environmentally friendly business practices, which protect wildlife habitats and do not cause deforestation, including:

• In Ghana, UK aid is increasing sustainable cocoa production, benefiting up to 150,000 people while protecting the 31,000-hectare Bia National Park. We are supporting local communities through training to female farmers and providing start-up kits for local businesses. The Bia National Park hosts 62 species of mammal and 160 species of bird, including the Forest Elephant, Chimpanzee and Lovebird.

• In Ethiopia, DFID’s support is helping to develop sustainably produced wild forest coffee, with potential to double the incomes for up to 23,000 farmers. Ethiopia’s wild coffee region is the range of the endemic and endangered Ethiopian wolf, Nyala antelope and African lions.

Projects like these are illustrative of the ‘win-win’ approach championed by DFID, encouraging sustainable livelihoods whilst conserving some of the world’s iconic and endangered species, which benefits us all.

Forests provide precious habitats for many critically endangered wildlife species. Loss of tropical forests is being driven by the cultivation of crops like palm oil, soya, cocoa and coffee, which account for over 70% of deforestation in developing countries. These crops provide jobs and livelihoods in poor rural areas in developing countries, but forest clearance is often illegal and damaging to the local environment.

Palm oil is used in many of our processed foods, soaps and cosmetics, soya is used to feed animals reared for our meat and cocoa is used to make the chocolate we love, and coffee is obviously a hugely popular drink across the world. The UK is now leading an approach where British consumers can continue to enjoy these products and resources, by supporting sustainable practices, jobs and businesses which protect forests.

A separate funding package will support a number of projects targeting the trade of wildlife products destined for Asia , where demand for illegally trafficked wildlife products such as Pangolin scales, furs and ivory are driving the illegal trade, causing wildlife to be slaughtered, forests to be felled and communities to be devastated.

These measures, part of an overall package of £2.5 million, will include a project which will expose illegal activities and drive investigations in the Congo Basin. Previous projects have already jailed over 1,500 significant wildlife traffickers to date.

NOTES TO EDITORS

• This announcement constitutes a new funding commitment of £33.5 million to DFID’s Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (IFSLU) programme, and £2.5 million of funding allocated from existing budgets in DFID’s Forest Governance, Markets and Climate Programme (FGMC).

• DFID committed £60m to the IFSLU programme from 2015-20. Today’s funding will extend the programme for a further three years (2020-23).

• DFID’s FGMC programme is a ten year (2011-2021) programme which contributes to UK efforts to end illegal deforestation, ensure that forests contribute to sustainable development and tackle climate change. The final phase of funding (2018-2021) totals £87 million.

Notes on the further package of ‘Demand Reduction’ programmes

A separate support package will support a number of projects targeting the trading of wildlife products into South East Asia, including:

• Exposing illegal activities and driving investigations in the Congo Basin – UK aid will expand the work of the Eagle Network in the Congo Basin (Cameroon, Gabon and Rep. of Congo) whose work has jailed over 1,500 significant wildlife traffickers to date. They will work with governments and civil society monitors to drive investigations, prosecutions and expose criminals publicly. This can reduce illegal logging and protect Chimpanzees, Forest Elephants and Mandrills.

• Strengthen international regulations governing the trade in endangered species – working with Forest Trends and the Environmental Investigation Agency to link efforts tackling IWT with the successful tactics, which have cracked down on the trade in illegal timber to support the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

• Training law enforcement and boosting cooperation between South East Asian and African countries – working with the Global Environmental Institute (GEI), WWF UK, and Traffic to train enforcement officers in Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo, to allow information sharing and joint enforcement operations for both the timber and wildlife trade in areas with Gorilla, Leatherback Sea Turtle and Bonobo habitats.

• Tackling illegal deforestation and wildlife crime in the Mekong, Central Africa and Indonesia – working with the Wildlife Conservation Society to sustainably manage over 8 million hectares of forests and 50,000 forest-dependent households by supporting tougher standards on the timber trade and improving the governance of forests and wildlife, including by working with agricultural companies to support sustainable jobs. Wildlife such as the Asian Elephant, Asian Rhino and Sun Bear depend upon habitats in the Mekong.

• Tracking illegal trade networks between Africa and South East Asia – with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), we will research and map trade networks from African countries to South East Asia, and work with local civil societies and anti-corruption institutions to expose illegal routes and practices. In 2016 the EIA exposed $1.9 billion of illegal trade in Siamese Rosewood.

People living, working and travelling in West Sussex will have an opportunity to review updated plans for upgrading the A27 near Arundel, Highways England announced today (Friday 12 October).

The consultation will give local people a fresh look at all the viable options for upgrading the A27 using the latest available information.

An earlier consultation led to a preferred route, known as Option 5a, being announced in May. Since then, as part of Highways England’s work to develop the scheme for submission of a planning application, important new evidence is available which merits putting the plans to the public again. This new information includes a redesign of the western end of the scheme where it re-joins the existing A27, updated traffic modelling results and updated data on and enhancements of the alternative Options 1 and 3.

This further round of consultation will give people an opportunity to comment on all matters presented at the previous consultation in 2017 and the new information available. It will allow consultees to comment on all three route options previously consulted upon: Option 1, Option 3 and Option 5a.

Following the further consultation, Highways England will consider the responses, alongside all other relevant evidence in order to determine the next steps for the project, including examination of the information gained against the preferred route and the alternative options.

Highways England programme lead Alan Feist said:

It is clear that improving the A27 at Arundel is a priority for local people, and we at Highways England have been working hard to develop our proposals. Since the original consultation, our continued work has established important new information about each of the options and we have decided that we will run a further consultation next year to seek people’s views on the proposals in light of that new information.

The Arundel bypass scheme remains a much-needed scheme with strong popular support which would improve journeys along the whole of the Sussex coast. Drivers on the A27 suffer daily delays and the congestion there holds back the whole region and pushes traffic into small, less suitable roads through the South Downs National Park. Highways England remains committed to finding a solution to this problem, which has blighted Sussex and communities across the south coast for decades.

The preferred route announcement we made last year remains in place, and we are defending the legal challenges that have been brought against it.

During the original consultation, Option 5a was the most popular option, supported by 48% of people who responded through the questionnaire.

Anyone interested in the scheme can sign up to receive updates via the project page

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.