Boris Johnson says no-confidence vote win ‘decisive’ despite mass Tory rebellion
Boris Johnson confirmed plans to extend the right to buy to tenants of housing association homes.
He said there are 2.5 million households whose homes belong to associations, saying “they’re trapped, they can’t buy, they don’t have the security of ownership, they can’t treat their home as their own or make the improvements that they want”.
Mr Johnson added that some associations have treated tenants with “scandalous indifference”.
However, the government’s right to buy plan has been labelled a “dangerous gimmick,” by housing charity Shelter with the group’s chief executive calling on the prime minister to “stop wasting time” on failed policies.
Shelter CEO Polly Neate said the government’s promise to replace sold social homes through Right to Buy “has flopped.”
“The government needs to stop wasting time on the failed policies of the past and start building more of the secure social homes this country actually needs.”
Boris Johnson tells workers to accept pay cuts or UK faces 1970s–style ‘stagflation’
Workers will have to settle for real-terms pay cuts if Britain is to avoid 1970s–style “stagflation” and soaring interest rates, Boris Johnson has warned.
The prime minister performed a startling U-turn on a promise – made just months ago – to create a high-wage economy, instead highlighting the pain to come from rising inflation.
Read the full story from our deputy political editor, Rob Merrick, here:
Watch: Johnson confirms plans to extend Right to Buy scheme
Johnson calls for more low-deposit mortgages
Boris Johnson has said he wants to ensure a “ready stream” of low-deposit mortgages.
“Yes, we have got to help people get deposits, but we need to have many more 95% mortgages,” he said.
“It is punitively difficult for so many people now in this country, it doesn’t need to be that way, that’s one of the reasons we are reforming it.”
PM quiet on tax cuts
The PM refused to give further details of his reported plans to reduce the tax burden.
Asked about speculation of a 2p cut to income tax, Boris Johnson said: “On what Rishi (Sunak) and I are talking about on fiscal measures, you are just going to have to contain your impatience there.”
He said the government was “strongly inclined to stimulate further growth, further productivity with tax cuts as and when they become sensible”.
Mr Johnson added: “The cost of housing is a big chunk of expenditure, transport is a big chunk, childcare’s a big chunk, energy is an ever-growing chunk but tax is the biggest of all and we certainly aim to get that down.”
Government will explore discounting Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy ISA savings from Universal Credit eligibility rules
The government will explore discounting Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy ISA savings from Universal Credit eligibility rules.
Boris Johnson said that will “make it easier for hard-working people to put away a little every month until they have enough for a deposit on their first home”.
The Prime Minister also said mortgage support for those who become unemployed will be available more quickly and the government was also looking at measures to “securitise” some of the £30 billion housing benefits bill in order to fund more development of homes.
Mr Johnson said the overall package would “not only help us to build many more homes in the right place but will help millions of people realise what is currently an unattainable dream of home ownership”.
The prime minister also added that government would explore having more 95 per cent mortgages to help aspiring homeowners get on the ladder
Boris Johnson addresses social housing availability
Boris Johnson addresses one of the biggest criticisms of the housing policy – it’s impact on existing social housing availability.
He said: “We want to see at least a replacement and we want to build hundreds of thousands more homes every year.”
Mr Johnson said his government would launch a comprehensive review of the mortgage market to examine how access to low deposit mortgages could be secured.
“Today, I can announce a comprehensive review of the mortgage market, reporting back this autumn it will look at how we can give our nation of aspiring homeowners better access to low deposit mortgages,” Mr Johnson said in a speech on the economy.
Boris Johnsons confirms plans to extend Right to Buy scheme targeting 2.5 million households
Boris Johnson confirmed plans to extend the right to buy to tenants of housing association homes.
He said there are 2.5 million households whose homes belong to associations, saying “they’re trapped, they can’t buy, they don’t have the security of ownership, they can’t treat their home as their own or make the improvements that they want”.
He said that some associations have treated tenants with “scandalous indifference”.
“So, it’s time for change. Over the coming months we will work with the sector to bring forward a new right-to-buy scheme,” he said.
Mr Johnson added that it would give “millions” more the chance to own their own home and would see “one-for-one replacement of each social housing property sold” while being affordable within existing spending plans.
‘We’re on your side,’ PM insists amid falling living standards
Boris Johnson has reiterated that the government is on the side of the public amid the worst living standards in 40 years.
“We’re on your side on cutting the cost of childcare, we’re on your side on cutting the cost of fuel, we’re on your side in cutting transport costs, we’re on your side in cutting the cost of home ownership,” the prime minister said in his speech.
Boris Johnson said his administration would enact reforms to “cut the costs of government, cut costs for business and cut costs for people across the country”.
“It cannot be right that the size of the central government has increased by 23 per cent since 2015,” he said.
“There are 91,000 more officials than there were. I believe we have the best civil service in the world but, in view of the pressure now on families, we have got to find efficiencies, prune back Whitehall to the size it was only five or six years ago.
“I think that’s something we can achieve without harming the public services they deliver.”
Boris Johnson criticises Sadiq Khan’s rate of home building in London
Boris Johnson takes a swipe at Sadiq Khan, criticising the London mayor’s performance on building homes.
“Thanks to the planning reforms we’ve been putting in over the last decade, house building rates have reached a 20-year high – outside London,” the prime minister said.
He added: “In London, the present mayor is not showing the speed or scale of his immediate predecessor.”
