Boris Johnson will today set out his vision for lower-paid workers to be able to use housing benefits to buy their homes and an extension of the right to buy for housing association tenants.

The Prime Minister is expected to confirm the plans in a speech on Thursday as he moves on from a bruising Tory revolt against his leadership earlier this week.

It is hoped the pledges will help people on lower incomes onto the property ladder and will please rebel MPs and voters who are struggling amid the cost of living crisis.

The moves will form part of a plan by Mr. Johnson to reassert his authority after surviving a confidence vote on Monday, despite the revolt by 41% of his MPs.

What is the government’s new housing plan?

It is understood that Mr. Johnson’s speech will set out plans to allow low-paid workers to use housing benefits to secure and pay for mortgages, and will give tenants of housing association properties the right to buy their homes.

Mr Johnson will argue that £30 billion in housing benefit currently spent on rent could be better used to help people secure and pay for mortgages, according to the Times.

However, the newspaper said the vision to give millions the ability to buy their social properties at discounts of up to 70% is likely to be limited to a series of pilots for now, without additional government funding.

The Prime Minister will also commit to detail “reforms to help people cut costs in every area of household expenditure” over the coming weeks as he seeks to ease the impact of soaring prices.

In his speech in Lancashire, Mr. Johnson is set to say: “We have the tools we need to get on top of rising prices.

“The global headwinds are strong, but our engines are stronger. And, while it’s not going to be quick or easy, you can be confident that things will get better, that we will emerge from this a strong country with a healthy economy.”

What is the Right to Buy scheme and who is eligible?

The current Right to Buy scheme in England allows council tenants to buy their homes at a discount.

You can apply to buy your council home if:

it is your only or main home
it is self-contained
you are a secure tenant
you have had a public sector landlord for three years
If your home used to be owned by the council, but they sold it to another landlord (like a housing association) while you were living in it, you may also have the Right to Buy.

The government has an online eligibility checker on the Own Your Home website so tenants can check if they can apply.

Rules differ for those who live in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

What else is known about the housing plans?

Cabinet minister Michael Gove said there will be a “cap” on the number of people who can take advantage of the government’s new housing scheme.

When asked what the limit would be, he said: “That’s something I will be discussing with housing associations.”

Speaking on Sky News, he added: “We’re looking specifically at a savings vehicle that people can use in order to save for that deposit.

“Because home ownership is not just good for individuals, it’s good for society overall.

“We want people to have a stake in the future, we want people to be able to invest in their own home, we want people to have somewhere safe and secure, warm and decent, in which they can raise their children.”

Mr. Gove added that the government will ensure there are new houses to replace those bought by lower-paid workers under the plans.

He explained: “When new homes are built for sale by the big housing companies, we will extract some of the money that they make and some of that money will be set aside explicitly to make sure that there is more affordable housing or council housing for people who need it.”

Source: https://www.nationalworld.com/news/politics/right-to-buy-housing-benefits-plan-3725265

The post What is Right to Buy? Boris Johnson’s plan to extend scheme to housing association renters – who is eligible? first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Speaking before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Mandelker said that “though Russia’s malign activities continue, we believe its adventurism undoubtedly has been checked by the knowledge that we can bring much more economic pain to bear using our powerful range of authorities – and that we will not hesitate to do so if its conduct does not demonstrably and significantly change.”

“The significance of our actions and other financial measures must ultimately be measured in terms of their strategic impacts,” she added.

In a separate hearing, Assistant Treasury Secretary Marshall Billingslea told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that “Treasury has made countering Russian aggression a top priority” and “will continue to do its part to impose costs in response to Russian malign activity, leveraging all of the tools and authorities that we have.”

Since January 2017, the Trump administration has sanctioned 217 Russian-related individuals and entities for a broad range of conduct.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Treasury announced to sanction several Russia-related individuals and entities over their involvement in actions against the U.S. sanctions.

The U.S. State Department said earlier this month that the country will impose new sanctions on Russia in two phases, and the first batch will take effect around Aug. 22.

However, Billingslea said in the hearing that considering the size of the Russian economy and its deep integration into the global economy and financial system, U.S. “sanctions are not and cannot be the only tool on which we rely.”

He listed the engagement with foreign governments and private sector at home and abroad, and cooperation with international organizations and domestic and foreign media.

A. Wess Mitchell, assistant secretary of state, also told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that “Russia has evolved beyond being simply an external or military one; it includes influence operations orchestrated by the Kremlin in the very heart of the Western world.”

He added that U.S. Russia policy is based on the recognition that “to be effective, U.S. diplomacy must be backed by military power that is second to none and fully integrated with our allies and all of our instruments of power.”

Mitchell noted that “even as we have imposed unprecedented penalties for Russian aggression, we have been clear that the door to dialogue is open” if Russia makes changes as Washington wants.

Russia and the United States have been waging sanctions against each other as bilateral relations continue to worsen over recent years.

Moscow has repeatedly said that it reserves the right to take additional countermeasures against U.S. diplomatic properties in Russia if Washington continues hostility.

U.S. President Donald Trump indicated on Monday that he would consider lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia if Moscow took some actions in such areas as Syria or Ukraine.

Trump has been widely attacked after his Helsinki meeting with Putin, due to his reconciliatory remarks that many saw as a sign of siding with Moscow against the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. elections.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said Monday that the upcoming U.S. sanctions are “unfriendly” and “illegal,” and will hurt broader international trade.

Nevertheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin remains ready to resolve the problems facing the two countries, he said.

Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-08/22/c_137408645.htm

The post U.S. to step up pressure on Russia with more sanctions first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.