Tax-Free Childcare puts more money back in the pockets of working families by providing much needed financial support towards the cost of childcare for children aged 11 or under, or up to 17 if the child has a disability. For every £8 paid into a Tax-Free Childcare online account, families will automatically receive an additional £2 in government top-up.

Families receive up to £500 every three months (£2,000 a year) per child, or £1,000 (£4,000 a year) if their child is disabled, helping towards the cost of before and after-school clubs, childminders and nurseries, holiday clubs and other approved childcare schemes.

In June 2022, HMRC paid out £41.6 million in top-up payments, which was shared between approximately 391,000 families across the UK.

Families can find out what childcare support is best for them via Childcare Choices.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:

Tax-Free Childcare can make a big difference to families, helping with the bills for things like wraparound care for school children, nurseries, childminders and holiday clubs. It’s easy to register – search ‘Tax-Free Childcare’ on GOV.UK.

More than one million families in the UK are entitled to some form of government childcare support and the government is encouraging those eligible to not miss out on their entitlements.

For thousands of families who use Tax-Free Childcare, the money they save each month on their childcare costs is money that goes back into their pockets. Accounts can be opened at any time of the year and can be used straight away, and money can be deposited at any time and used when needed. Any unused money that is deposited can be simply withdrawn at any time.

Read more information about Tax-Free Childcare and how to register.

Parents and carers could be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare if they:

• have a child or children aged 11 or under. They stop being eligible on 1 September after their 11th birthday. If their child has a disability, they may get up to £4,000 a year until they are 17

• earn, or expect to earn, at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week, on average each earn no more than £100,000 per annum

• do not receive tax credits, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers

A full list of the eligibility criteria is available on GOV.UK.

Latest Tax-Free Childcare statistics were released on 17 August 2022. Data is available up to June 2022.

HMRC has produced a refreshed Tax-Free Childcare guide for parents, which explains the reasons and benefits for signing up to the scheme.

Each eligible child requires their own Tax-Free Childcare account. If families have more than one eligible child, they will need to register an account for each child. The 20% government top-up is then applied to deposits made for each child, not household.

Account holders must confirm their details are up to date every three months to continue receiving the government top-up.

Childcare providers can also sign up for a childcare provider account via GOV.UK to receive payments from parents and carers via the scheme.

The government is offering help for households. Check GOV.UK to find out what cost of living support, including help with childcare costs, you could be eligible for.

Gordon West, of Benfleet, Essex, was caught fishing without a licence on 23 November 2021 at Martham Pits, Norfolk. John Ellingham, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was caught fishing during the close season on 1 May 2022 on the River Bure near Wroxham, Norfolk. Sam Reynolds, of Bacton, Norfolk, was caught fishing without a licence and having left 2 rods unattended on 5 April 2022 at Coston Carp Lakes, Coston, Norfolk.

All 3 cases were heard at Hastings Magistrates Court. The court fined West £220 and Reynolds £197 and ordered them both to pay a £34 victim surcharge and £135 in costs. Ellingham was fined £138 and ordered to pay a £34 victim surcharge and £65 costs. All 3 fines total £992 – this is 22 times more than the current price of a £45 fishing licence.*

Enforcement Team Leader, Lesley Robertson, said:

These cases show we pursue offenders through the courts and won’t hesitate to take enforcement action where anglers break rules. Anyone found fishing illegally may face prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500.

The close season is in place to allow an uninterrupted spawning period and helps to protect vulnerable species. It also provides an opportunity for the Environment Agency and partners to carry out projects up and down the country to further enhance habitats vital for improving fish spawning.

All anglers need a valid Environment Agency fishing licence. The money raised through the sales of fishing licences is re-invested and enables us to improve all fisheries, including rivers, for anglers.

Our fisheries enforcement officers routinely undertake licence checks, and we urge anyone with information about illegal fishing to contact us on 0800 807060.

Licences now run 365 days from the day of purchase offering 12 full months of fishing.

Any angler aged 13 or over, fishing on a river, canal or still water needs a licence. A 1-day licence costs from just £6, and an annual licence costs from just £30. Concessions are available. Junior licences are free for 13 to 16 year-olds.

For more information or to buy a fishing licence visit the GOV.UK website or call the Environment Agency on 0344 800 5386. Alternatively, you can purchase a licence from your local Post Office branch.

The Environment Agency carries out enforcement work all year round and is supported by police forces and the Angling Trust. Fisheries enforcement work is intelligence-led, targeting known hot-spots and where illegal fishing is reported.

Anyone with information about illegal fishing activities should report it to our incident hotline number 0800 807060. You can also report it to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

*£45 is the cost of a 12-month trout and coarse 3-rod fishing licence.

Charges:

Gordon West and Sam Reynolds pleaded guilty to breaching Section 27(1)(a) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.

Sam Reynolds pleaded guilty to breaching Byelaw 10 of the Environment Agency National Byelaws which came into force on 27 May 2001 made pursuant to Section 210 and Schedule 25 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and contrary to Section 211 of the said Act.

John Ellingham pleaded guilty to breaching National Byelaw 2 of the Environment Agency Byelaws made on the 12 July 2010 and contrary to National Byelaw 6 confirmed 23 March 2010 made pursuant to sections 210 and 211 schedule 25 of the Water Resource Act 1991.

They were sentenced at Hastings Magistrates’ Court on 29 July 2022.

England

In England the June data shows, on average, house prices have risen by 0.9% since May 2022. The annual price rise of 7.3% takes the average property value to £304,867.

The regional data for England indicates that:

• the East of England experienced the greatest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months with a movement of 9.7%

• the North East saw the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 3.6%

• Yorkshire and the Humber saw the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of -0.4% since May 2022

• the North West experienced the greatest monthly growth with an increase of 2.1% since May 2022

Price change by region for England

Repossession sales by volume for England

The lowest number of repossession sales in April 2022 was in the East of England region.

The highest number of repossession sales in April 2022 was in the North East.

Average price by property type for England

Funding and buyer status for England

Building status for England

London

London shows, on average, house prices have risen by 1.9% since May 2022. An annual price rise of 6.3% takes the average property value to £537,920.

Average price by property type for London

Funding and buyer status for London

Building status for London

Wales

Wales shows, on average, house prices have risen by 0.6% since May 2022. An annual price rise of 8.6% takes the average property value to £213,091.

There were 2 repossession sale for Wales in April 2022.

Average price by property type for Wales

Funding and buyer status for Wales

Building status for Wales

Access the full UK HPI

UK house prices

UK house prices increased by 7.8% in the year to June 2022, down from 12.8% in May 2022. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices in the UK increased by 1.0% between May and June 2022, down from an increase of 5.7% during the same period a year earlier (May and June 2021).

The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed that in June 2022, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 95,420. This is 54.3% lower than a year ago (June 2021). Between May and June 2022, UK transactions decreased by 7.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis.

House price growth was strongest in the East of England where prices increased by 9.7% in the year to June 2022. The lowest annual growth was in North East, where prices increased by 3.6% in the year to June 2022.

See the economic statement.

The data is accurate. However, this release may be subject to increased revisions as we add more data over the coming months.

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 2022 UK HPI at 9:30am on Wednesday 14 September 2022. 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 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 aparticular 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 (May 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 May 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 £8 trillion, including over £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 26 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 88% 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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