The Research Support Office was launched one year ago by RWM to harness and grow the academic community carrying out some of the essential independent research required for a UK Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).

Its long-term programme includes wholly funded research, part-funded research carried out with partners in the government’s UK Research and Innovation body (UKRI), academia and industry, together with PhD studentships and engagement in international projects.

Since formation of the RSO, RWM has funded 8 PhD students, 2 Post-doctoral Research Associates (PDRAs) and has committed to fund a further 16 PhDs and three PDRAs this coming year.

During the 2-day event in Manchester, RWM and experts from universities and research institutions across the UK will explore the latest developments in geological disposal research.

Conference delegates will hear from academics in engineering, mathematics, materials science, social science, geoscience, radiochemistry and manufacturing, reflecting the wide range of disciplines involved with developing and constructing a GDF. Each research discipline is led by the UK’s most foremost experts in their respective fields.

RWM’s Lucy Bailey, Head of RSO, said:

I am excited that the RSO community is coming together in person to celebrate the progress which has been achieved in its first year and to welcome our first full cohort of RSO PhD students as they embark on their research.

The conference will highlight our current research areas as well as looking ahead at future research needs to ensure that a GDF is underpinned by world-class science and engineering. An important aspect of the conference is the opportunity for RWM staff and leading academics to work together to ensure the widest possible understanding and engagement with the GDF programme.

Prof Katherine Morris, Academic Lead for the RSO, said:

We are excited to meet our colleagues from RWM and academia for the first time in person since the RSO Launch. The event offers us the opportunity to highlight the new research being undertaken in the RSO, and consider the future research needs for the RSO as we build our community.

The exchange between the academic community and RWM Subject Matter Experts is at the heart of the RSO, and we are looking to build on our excellent progress to date at the event with the launch of our PhD Bursary Scheme and our workshop on Lower Strength Sedimentary Rocks as well as technical and question and answer sessions.

In partnership with The University of Manchester and The University of Sheffield, the RSO aims to deliver the scientific, engineering and social science understanding to underpin the GDF programme and develop the next generation of scientists and engineers to contribute to long-term science and technology innovations, enabling RWM to be successful in its mission to protect people and the environment.

Further information is available via the RSO website.

Competent authorities of exporting countries should use the relevant model health certificate as a template to create a version exporters can apply for to export petfood to Great Britain, the Channel Islands or Isle of Man.

Competent authorities of exporting countries should use the relevant model health certificate as a template to create a version exporters can apply for to export pig bristles to Great Britain, the Channel Islands or Isle of Man.

The fourth annual profile combining data and knowledge with information from other sources to give a broad picture of the health of people in England in 2021.

In the past 18 months all those involved in the property market have been impacted by the effects of coronavirus (COVID-19); HM Land Registry is no different and as a result, this release of the UK House Price index isn’t as complete as it could be.

The data is accurate. However, this release may be subject to increased revisions as we add more data over the coming months. See Reducing delays for further information.

England

In England, the July data shows on average, house prices have fallen by 4.5% since June 2021. The annual price rise of 7% takes the average property value to £270,973.

The regional data for England indicates that:

• no region saw a monthly price rise. The South East experienced the smallest monthly fall with a movement of -1.3%
• the North West saw the lowest monthly price growth, at -7.6%
• the North East experienced the greatest annual price rise, up by 10.8%
• London saw the lowest annual price growth, with a rise of 2.2%

Price change by region for England

Repossession sales by volume for England

The lowest number of repossession sales in May 2021 was in the East of England.

The highest number of repossession sales in May 2021 was in the North West.

Average price by property type for England

Funding and buyer status for England

Building status for England

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

London

London shows, on average, house prices have fallen by 2% since June 2021. An annual price rise of 2.2% takes the average property value to £494,673.

Average price by property type for London

Funding and buyer status for London

Building status for London

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

Wales

Wales shows, on average, house prices have fallen by 4% since June 2021. An annual price rise of 11.6% takes the average property value to £187,960.

There were 7 repossession sales for Wales in May 2021.

Average price by property type for Wales

Funding and buyer status for Wales

Building status for Wales

*Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.

UK House Prices

UK house prices increased by 8% in the year to July 2021, down from 13.1% in June 2021. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK decreased by 3.7% between June and July 2021, compared with an increase of 0.8% during the same period a year earlier (June and July 2020).

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in July 2021, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 73,740. This is 4.2% higher than a year ago. Between June and July 2021, UK transactions decreased by 62.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis, following a record level of transaction numbers in June 2021.

House price growth was strongest in the North East where prices increased by 10.8% in the year to July 2021. The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices increased by 2.2% in the year to July 2021.

See the economic statement.

The UK HPI is based on completed housing transactions. Typically, a house purchase can take 6 to 8 weeks to reach completion. The price data feeding into the July 2021 UK HPI will mainly reflect those agreements that occurred after the government measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 took hold.

Reducing delays

Our absolute top priority is to reduce any delays, both those caused by the pandemic and those existing beforehand. To deliver our services while promoting public health, we are:

• adjusting our resources where necessary
• introducing automation where practical
• recruiting and training more than 500 new staff

Background

1. We publish the UK House Price Index (HPI) on the second or third Wednesday of each month with Northern Ireland figures updated quarterly. We will publish the July 2021 UK HPI at 9.30am on Wednesday 20 October 2021. See calendar of release dates.

2. We have made some changes to improve the accuracy of the UK HPI. We are not publishing average price and percentage change for new builds and existing resold property as done previously because there are not currently enough new build transactions to provide a reliable result. This means that in this month’s UK HPI reports, new builds and existing resold property are reported 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 available by property status (new build and existing property) and funding status (cash and mortgage) in our downloadable data tables. Transactions that require us to create 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 are available for England and Wales within the downloadable data in CSV format. See about the UK HPI for more information.

6. HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency supply data for the UK HPI.

7. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency calculate the UK HPI. It applies a hedonic regression model that uses the various sources of data on property price, including 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. We take the UK Property Transaction statistics are from the 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. HMRC presents the UK aggregate transaction figures on a seasonally adjusted basis. We make adjustments 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. The UK HPI reflects the final transaction price for sales of residential property. 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. HM Land Registry provides information on residential property transactions for England and Wales, collected as part of the official registration process 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 sales data is based on the number of transactions lodged with HM Land Registry by lenders exercising their power of sale.

15. For England, we show repossession sales volume recorded by government office region. For Wales, we provide repossession sales volume for the number of repossession sales.

16. Repossession sales data is available from April 2016 in CSV format. Find out more information about repossession sales.

17. We publish CSV files of the raw and cleansed aggregated data every month for England, Scotland and Wales. We publish Northern Ireland data 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. 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 £7 trillion, including over £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 26 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 87% of the land mass of England and Wales.

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

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