BORIS JOHNSON ANNOUNCES RIGHT-TO-BUY PLANS FOR LOW-PAID WORKERS

In a speech in Lancashire today the prime minister is expected to say he wants to extend the right to buy to people who rent from housing associations (BBC News). In addition, Mr Johnson is due to announce that lower-paid workers will be able to use housing benefit payments towards a mortgage (The Times). At present a person is not usually eligible for housing benefit if they have a mortgage. The prime minister is also expected to announce a review of the mortgage market.

THE BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE WARN THE ECONOMY WILL DROP AS CONSUMER SPENDING FALLS

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned that a big fall in consumer spending will cause the UK economy to ‘flatline’ later this year (The Times). The BCC’s latest quarterly report for Britain says economic growth will stagnate in the second and third quarters before contracting by 0.2 per cent at the end of the year as increasing consumer prices impact households. The BCC said that the UK faced the challenge of rising interest rates and taxes, as well as high inflation (Sky News).

NEWS IN BRIEF

House prices increased for the eleventh month in a row in May according to the latest Halifax house price index (The Times).

The number of cash ISA accounts opened in the last tax year fell by 1.6 million, with customers instead seeking greater returns by investing in stocks and shares (Daily Mail).

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said that the UK economy is expected to fall to the slowest growing economy in the G7 in 2023 (BBC News)

The government has said energy network operators will need to implement new measures to manage severe weather events better, following a review of the industry's response to Storm Arwen in November 2021 (Reuters).