Pulse.Assent

A team working on the M5 Oldbury viaduct repair scheme is helping to transform a former derelict site into a community garden so it can be used by local charity, Ideal for all.

The derelict land, near junctions 1 and 2 of the M5 at Oldbury, is part of a programme of projects to give something back to local communities where work is currently being carried out by contractors BMV on behalf of Highways England to repair the viaduct.

Highways England is working with Ideal for All, a registered charity run by disabled people for disabled people in the Black Country, to create a fully functioning therapeutic garden and community learning space at Barlow Road in Wednesbury.

Ideal for All, through its award winning Growing Opportunities project, has already successfully developed two existing gardens; Salop Drive Market Garden (Oldbury) and therapeutic unit Malthouse Gardens (Smethwick). They are now working alongside the local community, M5 Oldbury viaduct team and Power to Change Community Business Fund to expand the project into Wednesbury (Barlow Road).

The site has already undergone phase one and one of development, being initially overgrown and unused for many years. Since the start of the Oldbury viaduct scheme, the team are carrying out further phase three development works and clearance across the Barlow road site.

In July, workers from contractors BMV attended the Ideal for All ‘volunteer day’. This involved working alongside local volunteers and project participants, weeding and hedge trimming around the existing orchard. More recently the team has been back on site carrying out some rotovating and larger scale orchard clearance work.

Highways England senior project manager, Zbigniew Twarowski, said:

We appreciate the impact that M5 Oldbury viaduct project currently has on the local community.

We are always looking to minimise the disruption, but we know that there is a limit to what we can do. We are therefore looking to create a lasting legacy for the project. We will return a refurbished viaduct but we also want to support communities and improve lives.

Ideal for All’s CEO, Khatija Patel, said:

We are excited to be working with local people, businesses and Power to Change. Together we’re working hard towards the final transformation into a full functioning local asset, complete with community gardens, accessible buildings and community spaces.

The project will provide health, mental health and wellbeing opportunities alongside employment and skills training; benefiting local people, protecting the natural environment and creating opportunities to support and sustain economic regeneration of the area.

Seeing the project develop through the generous support from the Oldbury viaduct scheme has been fantastic and we cannot thank you all enough!

Ideal for All provides a range of social and health care services for disabled people, carers and disadvantaged groups.

The aim is to help people to learn new skills and live as independently as possible, regardless of background or additional needs. The charity offers a range of services to promote independent living, health and wellbeing and employment and skills and brings people together through peer support and social events.

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.

St Thomas More Catholic Primary School received a much-needed facelift after 80 employees from 12 different organisations provided materials to carry out the work over a two-week period.

Among the many tasks achieved, communal areas were cleaned, walls and woodwork painted and 275 old coat hooks replaced with brightly coloured, matching ones. New plastic sheeting was also installed around busy places near banisters and the canteen, so they can be wiped clean more easily.

There were major improvements outside as well. Benches were given a new lease of life while planters were built out of fence posts that create a welcoming entrance to the building. The playground has had new long-lasting rubber surface laid to ensure that pupils are able to play in a safe environment.

This hugely impressive team effort was made possible through close collaboration between the various organisations working via East Midlands Asset Delivery (EMAD) for Highways England. They include maintenance and response contractor Amey, design contractor Kier and 21 other suppliers.

Amey’s Principal Operations Manager Katy Stephens, who was a key organiser of the event, said:

This was a great community involvement project which saw the many partners in EMAD really work together and get a brilliant result. Not only does this primary school in the heart of Kettering now look significantly improved but this was a wonderful opportunity for the various organisations in EMAD to further cement their working relationships. A great project which was an honour to take part in!

Highways England regional director, Catherine Brookes, joined colleagues in carrying out the facelift. She said:

We were delighted to get involved and do our bit to help the school. It’s great to see organisations coming together like this to support the local community.

Fraser Donald, Headteacher of St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, said:

I would just like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Amey, Highways England and their suppliers for all their hard work, commitment and vision to our summer renovation project at school. The work was carried out to a high standard and I am so pleased with the fresh start they have given to all of our school family at St Thomas More. Thank you again for everything and please know that you are always welcome back – you are part of the family now!

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.

Standards have remained high following last year’s record results which showed bathing waters were the cleanest since records began.

98.3 per cent of bathing waters tested at over 400 beaches and lakes up and down the country passed tough standards this year, following 98.5 per cent last year.

There have been huge strides made since the early 1990s, when just 28 per cent of bathing waters met the top water quality standards that were in force then; now 92 per cent are rated excellent or good.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

We want all bathing waters to enjoy the high quality which the 146 million visitors to Britain’s beaches every year expect and we will keep working with partners to drive up standards.

Not only does our iconic coastline generate over £3.6 billion for the economy, it is a valuable part of our natural environment and we will uphold these bathing water standards as part of our plans to deliver a Green Brexit.

Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said:

Maintaining such high water quality standards at English beaches is a huge success and a credit to all those individuals and organisations working hard to keep our bathing waters clean. Water quality has improved significantly over the last two decades – but to protect and enhance water quality even further we will need everyone to take the small actions that will help.

The Environment Agency continues to lead efforts to ensure bathing waters are maintained and improved further, working with partners and the public to reduce pollution.

Local action plans are in place for the waters that need improvement, involving a range of partner organisations. In 2017 the public were also able to see more advice on signs at beaches and get better information online about water quality at any bathing beach.

Notes to editors:

• The Office of National Statistics have published the annual bathing water quality results here
• Information about each bathing water is updated through the season on the bathing water explorer

The Institute for Apprenticeships (the Institute) has today announced that Sir Gerry Berragan has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the Institute and will take up the post from 27 November.

The Institute for Apprenticeships (the Institute) has today announced that Sir Gerry Berragan has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the Institute and will take up the post from 27 November.
The Institute is a crown, non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department of Education (DfE). The Institute ensures high-quality apprenticeship standards and advises government on funding for each standard.
Sir Gerry will replace Peter Lauener, the current Chief Executive, who has held the post since the launch of the Institute on 1 April 2017.
Sir Gerry has been involved in leadership and training for 36 years, throughout his Army career, giving him experience of running big, complex organisations, consisting of both military people and civil servants. He led the army’s training provision which had 13,000 people on an apprenticeship at any one time – making the army the largest apprenticeships provider in the country.

Antony Jenkins, Chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships said:

As a member of the Institute’s Board Sir Gerry has already been instrumental in the set–up of the organisation and in developing its strategy and values so that it can deliver to the high expectations we and others set for the Institute. Sir Gerry has extensive experience of leadership and management, as well as an in depth knowledge of apprenticeships and the positive impact they can have. I am very pleased to be able to appoint him and look forward to working closely with him on the challenges ahead.

Rt. Hon Anne Milton MP, Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, Minister for Women said:

I’m delighted that Sir Gerry has been appointed. He will drive the Institute to meet the challenges ahead, and I look forward to working closely with him. Having met Sir Gerry, I know that he will make sure that high quality apprenticeships, available for everyone, will be at the heart of the Institute’s work.

Sir Gerry Berragan said:

I am honoured to have been appointed as Chief Executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships. I was closely involved in delivering high quality apprenticeships during my Army career and I have been an Institute Board member from the outset earlier this year, so I understand the challenge. I look forward to working with employers to deliver high quality apprenticeships to meet their needs, whilst providing excellent opportunities for people and employers across the country.

The Chief Executive is responsible for the leadership and day-to-day management of the Institute. The Chief Executive is also Accounting Officer for the Institute’s budget and is accountable to the DfE’s Principal Accounting Officer, and to Parliament for the stewardship of these funds.

England

The data for England shows:

• an annual price increase of 5.7% which takes the average property value to £243,945
• house prices have risen by 0.6% since August 2017

The regional data indicates that:

• the North West experienced the greatest increase in average property price over the last 12 months, with a movement of 7.3%
• the North West also experienced the greatest monthly price growth with an increase of 2.1%
• London saw the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 2.5%
• London also saw the only monthly price fall of 0.2%

Price change by region for England

Region	Monthly change % since August 2017	Annual change % since September 2016	Average price September 2017
East Midlands	0.7	6.4	£184,399
East of England	0.3	5.9	£289,301
London	-0.2	2.5	£483,568
North East	0.5	4.4	£130,271
North West	2.1	7.3	£160,951
South East	0.3	5.5	£324,465
South West	0.5	6.6	£252,737
West Midlands	0.4	5.7	£189,038
Yorkshire and the Humber	1.0	5.6	£158,884

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

Repossession sales by volume for England

Region	July 2017
East Midlands	46
East of England	17
London	28
North East	69
North West	126
South East	58
South West	36
Yorkshire and the Humber	72
West Midlands	48
England	500

Average price by property type for England

Property type	September 2017	September 2016	Difference %
Detached	£368,625	£346,813	6.3
Semi-detached	£225,869	£213,476	5.8
Terraced	£197,532	£186,667	5.8
Flat/maisonette	£227,672	£217,713	4.6
All	£243,945	£230,848	5.7

Funding, buyer and building status for England

Transaction type	Monthly price change % since August 2017	Annual price change % since September 2016	Average price September 2017
Cash	0.7	5.7	£229,572
Mortgage	0.6	5.6	£251,186
First-time buyer	0.6	5.3	£204,549
Former owner occupier	0.6	5.9	£276,995
New build	2.1	8.0	£300,030
Existing resold property	0.5	5.5	£240,143

The most up-to-date HM Land Registry sales figures available for England show the number of completed house sales in July 2017 fell by 17.1% to 64,592 compared with 77,919 in July 2016.

Sales volumes for England

Month	Sales 2017	Sales 2016	Difference %
June	69,681	74,259	-6.2
July	64,592	77,919	-17.1

London

The data for London shows:

• an annual price increase of 2.5% which takes the average property value to £483,568
• house prices have fallen by 0.2% since August 2017

Average price by property type for London

Property type	September 2017	September 2016	Difference %
Detached	£917,729	£883,706	3.9
Semi-detached	£581,225	£565,376	2.8
Terraced	£498,705	£486,660	2.5
Flat/maisonette	£426,709	£416,967	2.3
All	£483,568	£471,767	2.5

Funding, buyer and building status for London

Transaction type	Monthly price change % since August 2017	Annual price change % since September 2016	Average price September 2017
Cash	-0.3	1.9	£506,060
Mortgage	-0.2	2.6	£476,475
First-time buyer	-0.1	2.2	£422,380
Former owner occupier	-0.3	2.8	£546,455
New build	2.9	6.4	£504,065
Existing resold property	-0.4	2.2	£481,880

The most up-to-date HM Land Registry sales figures available for London show the number of completed house sales in July 2017 fell by 24.5% to 6,639 compared with 8,794 in July 2016.

Sales volumes for London

Month	Sales 2017	Sales 2016	Difference %
June	7,305	8,464	-13.7
July	6,639	8,794	-24.5

Wales

The data for Wales shows:

• an annual price increase of 5.3% which takes the average property value to £152,661
• house prices have risen by 0.6% since August 2017

Average price by property type for Wales

Property type	September 2017	September 2016	Difference %
Detached	£230,342	£218,339	5.5
Semi-detached	£147,025	£139,442	5.4
Terraced	£118,417	£112,455	5.3
Flat/maisonette	£108,456	£104,114	4.2
All	£152,661	£144,976	5.3

Funding, buyer and building status for Wales

Transaction type	Monthly price change % since August 2017	Annual price change % since September 2016	Average price September 2017
Cash	0.4	4.9	£148,467
Mortgage	0.6	5.5	£155,149
First-time buyer	0.5	5.0	£131,735
Former owner occupier	0.6	5.6	£177,098
New build	2.2	7.6	£198,204
Existing resold property	0.5	5.1	£149,872

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

• the number of completed house sales in July 2017 fell by 11.3% to 3,599 compared with 4,057 in July 2016
• there were 54 repossession sales in July 2017

Sales volumes for Wales

Month	Sales 2017	Sales 2016	Difference %
June	4,026	3,812	5.6
July	3,599	4,057	-11.3

Access the full UK HPI

The UK Property Transaction Statistics show that the number of seasonally adjusted transactions on UK properties with a value of £40,000 or greater has increased by 4.6% between September 2016 and September 2017. However, comparing September 2017 with August 2017, the number of seasonally adjusted property transactions has decreased by 1.8%.

The Bank of England Agents’ summary of business conditions reported that supply and demand appeared to be broadly in balance across the overall market. Demand had proved more resilient in the new-build sector and the help to buy scheme was regarded as crucial to sustaining demand among first-time buyers.

Looking more closely at regional levels of the UK, the largest annual growth was in the North West at 7.3% up from 5% in August 2017. The slowest annual growth was in London at 2.5%. This is the 10th consecutive month where the growth in London house prices has remained below the UK average. 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 October 2017 UK HPI will be published at 9.30am on 12 December 2017. See calendar of release dates.

2. From next month, we are making some changes to improve the accuracy of the UK HPI. We will not be publishing average price and percentage change for new build and existing resold property, as we do now, because there are not currently enough new build transactions to provide a reliable result. This means that when we publish the October UK HPI in December, the earliest new build/existing resold property breakdown will be 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) 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 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 more than £4 trillion, including more than £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles, which show evidence of ownership, covering more than 84% of the land mass.

21. For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry

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