April 29 - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

Every region in England and Wales except for London and the East registered a fall in house price growth between February and March, according to figures from the Land Registry, leading some industry figures to argue that the once-booming house market is turning. (http://bit.ly/1Tzj830)

At hearings of the House of Commons business select committee into the steel industry crisis on Thursday, Business Secretary Sajid Javid admitted he had not been prepared for the fallout of the March decision by Tata Steel Ltd to quit Britain, despite claiming he had been aware since mid-February that the company was considering closing its Port Talbot plant. (http://bit.ly/1TzjgzB)

The Guardian

Boardroom bosses have received stinging rebukes over pay, with the engineering group Weir Group Plc forced to abandon potential share awards for its top management team and Shire Pharmaceuticals failing to get a majority of investors to support its pay deals. (http://bit.ly/1TzjWFc)

Richard Caring, the restaurateur and clothing tycoon, has emerged as one of the major beneficiaries of generous dividends paid by BHS in the early days of Philip Green's ownership. The Guardian has established that Caring, the owner of the Ivy and Le Caprice, was handed 93 million pounds ($135.91 million) in payouts from the retailer. (http://bit.ly/1TzkRFx)

The Telegraph

Barclays Plc Chairman John McFarlane wants to cut investment bankers' bonuses and told shareholders that the current period of market turmoil might provide the cover he needs to chop pay. 9http://bit.ly/1TzkqLp)

Accountancy giant PwC has picked long-serving restructuring specialist Kevin Ellis to lead its UK and Middle Eastern business, ending Ian Powell's eight-year reign at the top. (http://bit.ly/1Tzktqq)

Sky News

WPP Plc has identified external candidates who could eventually succeed Chief Executive Martin Sorrell, the world's biggest marketing services company will say on Friday as it confirms that he received the second-biggest payday in history for the boss of a UK-listed company. (http://bit.ly/1TziLFA)

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is likely to miss a deadline of the end of 2017 to offload more than 300 branches - a failure that would raise the prospect of substantial financial penalties being imposed by Brussels on the taxpayer-backed lender. (http://bit.ly/1TziYIS)

The Independent

Volkswagen AG is to pay 12 current and former managers 63.24 million euros ($71.83 million) for 2015, a year of record losses for the company following its global emissions scandal. (http://ind.pn/1TzkI54) ($1 = 0.6843 pounds) ($1 = 0.8804 euros) (Compiled by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)