
Yes Cymru deliver Crown Estate campaign letter to Downing Street
All 22 local authorities in Wales, the Senedd, and an overwhelming 75% of the Welsh public have supported the campaign on, with the final council voting unanimously to support the proposal last week.
In the letter, YesCymru set out the case for the transfer, stating that "Westminster's failure to act is strengthening the case for independence" and driving public support.
Thee group highlighted the significant rise in backing for an independent Wales, from around 5% before the 2014 Scottish referendum to 41% in the most recent poll, conducted in April.
READ MORE: Robin McAlpine: Why support for independence is surging in Wales
Campaigners are calling for the management of Crown Estate assets in Wales to be devolved to the Welsh Government, and for the profits from these sites to stay in Wales also, instead of going to the UK Treasury.
Crown Estate Scotland manages seabed, coastline, rural estates and other assets, delivering the profits to the Scottish Government for public spending.
The Crown Estate in Wales, valued at over £850 million, generates significant revenue from Welsh land and seabeds.
Several peers argued in October that it is only fair to devolve the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government, given Scottish assets were devolved to Scotland in 2016.
Director of YesCymru, Rob Hughes, said: "Wales has been overlooked and undervalued for far too long. All we're asking for is fairness, and when that's denied, more and more people see independence as the only way forward."
The letter outlines that YesCymru is willing to engage constructively with the UK Government, not only on transferring the Crown Estate but also on preparing the way for a referendum on Welsh independence.
Hughes concluded: "This united support across Wales shows that YesCymru can bring people together behind a clear demand, and that real change is possible when voices across the country speak as one."
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BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
First-time buyers removed from government housing scheme
Most first-time buyers have been dropped from a Scottish government scheme that helps people buy a home without having to fund its full cost, BBC Scotland News has Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) scheme allows buyers to pay for 60% to 90% of a property's price, with the government buying the remaining of buyers have entered the property market this way since 2007 but there was a sharp drop last year, leading to some observers calling the scheme's price thresholds unrealistic.A government spokesperson said the scheme would now only focus on priority groups, such as social renters and people with disabilities, but experts called the move "short-sighted". In the past, the initiative had been mostly used by first-time buyers on lower incomes who lived in private rentals or with family. But the government's latest update has rendered first-time buyers ineligible, unless they fit into one of the priority mortgage advisers and buyers who have used the scheme in the past told the BBC first-time buyers were vital to the housing market and should also be a priority group. 'The government should be protecting first-time buyers' In recent years, campaigners have highlighted the growing number of Scots struggling with housing issues such as affordability, suitability and security of May last year, the Scottish government declared a national housing emergency, which set out aims to increase housing supply and tackle high mortgage rates and the rapidly increasing cost of renting have made it difficult for first-time buyers to enter the property to the charity Shelter Scotland, more than four in 10 adults are currently dealing with housing-related Moore from Edinburgh contacted Your Voice, Your BBC News last year because she had struggled to save enough funds to buy her first home as a private tenant of eight years. Although the 32-year-old copywriter had about £5,000 in savings, she had to borrow money from her family to cover a mortgage deposit and the extra funds to pay over the property's asking said: "I can happily pay the mortgage payments, but what I can't do is pull £30,000 out of nowhere - There's no way I'd be able to do this alone."Before she bought her flat, Lucy had considered using the OMSE scheme to split the property's cost with the Scottish the time, the scheme was aimed at first-time buyers and priority groups who could prove they couldn't afford to buy a home without was one of four initiatives the Scottish government has run in the past 20 years to make home ownership more accessible. A Scottish government spokesperson said the schemes had supported almost 52,000 households since 2007, with more than 80% of them being first-time buyers. The OMSE scheme doesn't allow the applicants to offer over a property's asking price if their bid exceeds the set thresholds. This is why Lucy gave up on using claims buyers in Edinburgh often have to compete with investors who can afford to make bids on properties which are far in excess of the asking price."What angers me, and I think it really shows how little support and protection first-time buyers get, is that a lot of the ads on property websites say 'perfect for a first-time buyer or as an investment'," Lucy said."Those two groups of people - that's not a fair fight. "The government should be protecting first-time buyers and giving them a cat in hell's chance of getting into this really hyper-competitive market." First-time buyers no longer a priority Although the government has advertised the OMSE scheme as a "low cost initiative for first-time buyers" for the past 18 years, the eligibility criteria changed in April first-time buyers that fit into one of the priority groups are currently eligible, leaving out those who live in private rentals or with family and obtained by BBC Scotland News shows that the majority of the scheme's past users did not belong to any of the priority year, 182 out of 210 successful OMSE purchases were made by first-time buyers. Priority group applicants were responsible for 6% of these sales in 2024, and 10% in latest evaluation of the scheme from 2021 also showed that 35% of buyers were private tenants, 32% lived with relatives and 24% came from social the government's decision to focus solely on priority groups, a spokesperson said: "Supporting social renters to make the transition to affordable home ownership will help free up social rented accommodation, which in turn could help families move out of temporary accommodation."They added that it was important to target limited government funding on buyers who would not be able to purchase at all without Ramsay, a Dundee-based mortgage broker, called this move short-sighted, adding that she didn't believe it would attract more social renters to the scheme."Many people won't look to move from affordable renting to having to worry about the cost of having your own home, to cover ongoing repairs, everything else that goes with that," she Ramsay believes first-time buyers on lower incomes should be a priority group because they usually buy at the most competitive lower end of the said: "It pushes the house price up because there could be five or six people looking at a property, and some of them may well have financial backing where they can pay over the asking price for that property. It's not a level playing field."These are the people that will keep our housing market moving. It really is a kick in their teeth."In response, the Scottish government said that it still supported first-time buyers by charging no tax on the first £175,000 of their new home, and through the NSSE allows buyers split the cost of a new-build property sold by councils or housing associations. However, there are currently only six local authorities in Scotland with eligible properties, according to the scheme's website. 'Almost impossible' to meet the price cap Martin and Anna Sutherland said they would not have been able to purchase their first home without the OMSE had spent six years privately renting, which left them with just enough money to afford a 5% mortgage deposit, something not many lenders accept, according to the the government paying for 20% of the property price through the OMSE scheme, they managed to secure a lower mortgage and bought a four-bedroom bungalow in Fife. However, Mr Sutherland emphasised it was "almost impossible" to find a property that would fit into the price thresholds set by the government."There wasn't one property available to us by using the (OMSE) LIFT scheme, except for this one," he bought their house for £174,000, which was just £1,000 short of the scheme's threshold for South Fife. According to Rightmove, an average price for a four-bedroom property in Fife is just over £343, though the property requires lots of renovations, Mr Sutherland said the whole family felt very lucky to secure their first home. The thresholds are based on the property size and location, with noticeable differences across Scotland's local Ramsay and other mortgage advisers have told BBC Scotland News the scheme's price caps were the government claimed the thresholds were being updated every year in line with inflation, they remained the same between August 2022 and the latest update in April 2025. In response, the government stated there were no changes in December 2023 and 2024 because the scheme had closed to new applications at the South Fife, where Martin and Anna bought their house in 2024, a four-bedroom property is now capped at £185, BBC News Scotland questioned the government about the thresholds, it said: "We accept that in certain small geographical areas there will be a limited number of properties for sale which fall within the OMSE thresholds at any one point in time."It added that the way the thresholds are calculated ensures that all areas across Scotland are able to benefit from a viable scheme with a reasonable number of properties to choose from. Last year, the scheme's users also only had four weeks to apply, with the government claiming the budget had been "fully utilized by all applications received at the time." We later found out that only a half of the dedicated £27m was actually spent. Responding to our findings, a Scottish government spokesperson said: "After all applications were assessed, approximately £13.5m of the initial budget remained."At the end of November the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice made the decision to redistribute the remaining £13.5m of Financial Transactions allocated to OMSE to Charitable Bonds." The government uses these bonds to provide loans to registered social landlords for the development of new affordable number of applicants to the scheme and its funding have steadily declined in the past five most money allocated to the scheme was £80m in 2019, which supported 1,145 sales. In 2024, only about 0.6% of all of Scotland's first-time buyers benefited from it and the budget was the lowest in a John Boyle, the director of research and strategy at estate agent Rettie & Co, said the shared equity schemes were more successful 10 years ago."That's because it did help more substantial numbers of people onto the housing ladder at a time when it was difficult for first-time buyers to access mortgage finance," he he believes the solution to Scotland's housing problem lies elsewhere."Unless we do something about the supply problem, we won't really do anything about the affordability problem," he said."That's where the bulk of the money should be going."


South Wales Guardian
21 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Labour whip resigns over proposed welfare cuts
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Leader Live
37 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Labour whip resigns over proposed welfare cuts
In a letter informing the Prime Minister of her resignation, the MP for Lewisham North said she understood 'the need to address the ever-increasing welfare bill' but did not believe the proposed cuts 'should be part of the solution'. She said: 'I have wrestled with whether I should resign or remain in the Government and fight for change from within. (1/2) With a heavy heart, I have written to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as a whip. Whilst I will continue to support the government in delivering the change the country so desperately needs, I cannot vote in favour of the proposed reforms to disability benefits. — Vicky Foxcroft 💙 (@vickyfoxcroft) June 19, 2025 'Sadly it is now (sic) seems that we are not going to get the changes I desperately wanted to see. 'I therefore tender my resignation as I know I will not be able to do the job that is required of me and whip – or indeed vote – for reforms which include cuts to disabled people's finances.' Ms Foxcroft, who previously served as shadow minister for disabled people, is the first frontbencher to resign over the proposed benefit cuts, and the second to go over policy issues following Anneliese Dodds' decision to quit as development minister over cuts to the aid budget. Rebel Labour MPs welcomed her decision, with Hartlepool's Jonathan Brash saying he had the 'utmost respect' for her 'principled stand' and Crewe and Nantwich's Connor Naismith saying it 'must have been an incredibly difficult decision but she should be commended for standing by her principles'. Responding to Ms Foxcroft's resignation, a Government spokesperson said: 'This Labour Government was elected to deliver change. The broken welfare system we inherited is failing the sick and most vulnerable and holding too many young people back. It is fair and responsible to fix it. 'Our principled reforms will ensure those who can work should, that those who want to work are properly supported, and that those with most severe disabilities and health conditions are protected.' Sir Keir Starmer has faced a backlash from some Labour MPs over proposals to reform the welfare system expected to save up to £5 billion a year. Legislation introduced into Parliament on Wednesday includes a tightening of the criteria for the main disability payment in England, personal independence payment (Pip). Ministers also want to cut the sickness related element of universal credit (UC), and delay access to it, so only those aged 22 and over can claim it. The package of reforms is aimed at encouraging more people off sickness benefits and into work, but dozens of Labour rebels said last month that the proposals were 'impossible to support'. Pip is a benefit aimed at helping with extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability and difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of their condition. The latest data, published on Tuesday, showed 3.7 million people in England and Wales claimed Pip, up from 2.05 million in 2019, with teenagers and young adults making up a growing proportion of claimants. Around 800,000 people are set to lose out on the benefit under the Government's proposals, according to an impact assessment published alongside Wednesday's legislation. The impact assessment also confirmed a previous estimate that some 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, are likely to fall into relative poverty after housing costs in 2029/2030, although the Government repeated that this does not take into account the potentially positive impact of £1 billion annual funding by then for measures to support people into work. Changes to universal credit are expected to see an estimated 2.25 million current recipients of the health element impacted, with an average loss of £500 per year. But the Government said around 3.9 million households not on the UC health element are expected to have an average annual gain of £265 from the increase in the standard UC allowance. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the legislation 'marks the moment we take the road of compassion, opportunity and dignity'. But Neil Duncan-Jordan, the Labour MP for Poole and one of the backbenchers opposed to the change, said the Government was 'rushing through' the changes and urged ministers to think again.