Ground rents capped for leaseholders |
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Millions of leaseholders across England and Wales are set to benefit from a major shake-up of the outdated leasehold system – with ground rents set to be capped at £250 a year, changing to a peppercorn cap after 40 years. This move will ensure leaseholders keep more of their hard-earned cash, with many seeing savings of over £4,000 over the course of their lease, improving cost of living for over 5 million leaseholders and future homeowners. New leasehold flats will also be banned and homeownership strengthened thanks to ground-breaking legislation that will give people control over their homes and calls an end to the feudal leasehold system which dates to medieval times. |
Energy bill support extended for millions of families |
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This follows the government’s expansion of the Warm Home Discount last year, adding 2.7 million families to the scheme and bringing the total number of eligible households to around 6 million. This is on top of the average £150 of costs being taken off households’ energy bills from April, through measures announced at the Budget. The Energy Secretary Ed Miliband MP, Reading Borough Council Leader Cllr Liz Terry, and Matt Rodda MP visited new affordable homes with affordable bills for key workers in Reading Central this week, provided by Labour-led Reading Borough Council. |
Building thousands of homes faster in the South East |
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Over 125,000 new homes will be built faster thanks to the government’s intervention programme to kickstart housebuilding on sites facing delays. |
Free AI training for UK adults |
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Every adult in the UK is eligible to take free, newly benchmarked courses to gain practical AI skills for work – as the joint government and industry programme sees a major expansion to upskill 10 million workers. A selection of industry-developed AI courses, newly available on government’s AI Skills Hub, have been checked against Skills England’s AI foundation skills for work benchmark, with those who complete these courses receiving a virtual AI foundations badge. |
Government backs British pubs |
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The Chancellor is backing British pubs with the announcement of a major support package, as the government recognises the challenges facing the industry and the vital role they play in building strong local communities. The support package will save the average pub an additional £1,650 in 2026/27. Around 75% of pubs will see their bills fall or stay flat over the same year with the pub sector as a whole paying 8% less in business rates in 2029 than they do currently. |
