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The annual rate of house price growth has slowed for the first time since December 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics.

House prices increased by 3.5% in the 12 months to April, halving from 7% in March after stamp duty discounts were cut for some home buyers. 

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank said: "The UK housing market is still in recovery mode after the stamp duty cliff edge in April but prices are being kept firmly in check by an overhang of supply."

Justin Moy, managing director at mortgage brokers EHF Mortgages, added: "A slowdown was always on the cards given the efforts by most buyers to move before the stamp duty threshold changes. 

"In isolation, it's hard to plot the next few months data, but when costs of moving home increase, and mortgage rates are also increasing a little in addition to unemployment also worsening, don't be surprised to see the market flat line soon."

In England, the average home now costs 拢286,000 - 3% more than the same time last year. 

The North East had the highest house price inflation at 6.4% - although this was a significant slowdown from 15.3% in March. 

Annual house price inflation was lowest in the South West, at 0.9%. 

London was the only region where the house price annual inflation rate was higher in April (3.3%) than in March (0.9%).

You can see what the average house price is in your local area... 

What's happening with rents? 

The average rent in the UK has increased by 拢87 a month to 拢1,339 in the past year, ONS data shows.

London remains the most expensive place to rent privately, with the average price coming in at 拢2,249 a month. 

The North East is the cheapest at 拢733 a month, but prices have increased the most here, by 9.7%. 

Here's a look at how the rest of the country has fared... 

"We expect the rate of rental inflation to slow in the coming months, which will be welcome news for renters," Richard Donnell, executive director of research at Zoopla, said. 

"Rental inflation for those taking new tenancies are rising at their slowest rate for four years." 

Aldi has earmarked 20 new store locations across the UK and asked shoppers to suggest places that are most in need of one. 

The budget supermarket, which is the fourth-largest in the UK, has more than 1,050 stores but is working towards a long-term goal of 1,500. 

Here are the locations where it is looking for sites: 

• Braintree, Essex
• Bromley, Greater London
• Chesham, Buckinghamshire
• Balby, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
• Ealing, Greater London
• Ferndown, Dorset
• Hitchin, Hertfordshire
• Kenilworth, Warwickshire
• Kirkby, Merseyside
• Largs, North Ayrshire
• Pickering, North Yorkshire
• Ponteland, Northumberland
• South Croydon, Greater London
• South Shields, Tyne and Wear
• Tadcaster, North Yorkshire
• Uckfield, East Sussex
• Warwick, Warwickshire
• Wellingborough, Northamptonshire
• Witney, Oxfordshire
• Worthing, West Sussex

Each site needs to be big enough for a 20,000 sq ft store with around 100 parking spaces.

Ideally, it will also be near a main road with good visibility and access. 

"We want to make high-quality, affordable food accessible to everyone, and that means opening new stores in the communities that need them most," Jonathan Neale, managing director of national real estate at Aldi, said. 

"The response from the public has been invaluable in helping us identify where demand is greatest, and where we need to focus our efforts on finding the sites that can become new stores." 

If you have a suggestion for the supermarket, you can get in touch by email . 

Co-op is offering its members a 25% discount on a 拢40 shop as a "thank you" gesture after being hit by a major cyberattack. 

The retailer's stock was affected due to the attack in May, leaving shelves bare and shoppers frustrated. 

Hackers also stole personal data, including members' names and contact details. 

The offer runs from 18 to 24 June and can be used by members, including new ones, once.

Co-op managing director of food Matt Hood said: "We are so grateful to our member owners for their support and patience with us during what was a very difficult time and hope this gesture of appreciation goes a little way to showing them our thanks, with more value rewards to come over the summer."

By James Sillars, business and economics reporter 

Oil prices have been bubbling upwards again due to developments in the Israel-Iran conflict.

The cost of a barrel of Brent crude ticked up near to $77 - a 4% rise - late yesterday after it became known that Donald Trump was considering US military involvement.

He has since urged Iran to accept an "unconditional surrender".

Brent has slipped back slightly but the market remains glued to events.

UK natural gas costs are matching the upwards trend with LSEG data for day-ahead delivery contracts currently 16% up on levels seen earlier this month.

If sustained, it doesn't bode well for the next energy price cap review and bills from October - but it's early days. 

More widely on the financial markets, the FTSE 100 has risen 0.1% at the open to 8,844 following yesterday's decline of almost 0.5%.

The rally, if you can call it that, is quite broad-based.

The pound is being supported by a weakening dollar ahead of the US interest rate decision this evening.

No change is widely anticipated. Donald Trump is demanding a cut. There could be fireworks...

Today's inflation figure will be an "uncomfortable reality check" for home buyers, an expert has warned. 

Peter Stimson, director of mortgages at the lender MPowered said rates could start to increase in the coming weeks as swap rates, which influence what lenders charge borrowers, rise. 

"For anyone planning to buy their first home or remortgage this summer, who'd been assuming that the only way is down from mortgage interest rates, today's data will be an uncomfortable reality check," he said. 

"Mortgage rates may well have fallen as far as they can for now, and in the coming weeks, rates may even creep up back as lenders recalibrate in response to rising swap rates." 

High inflation, grouped with rising oil prices and global economic uncertainty, means the chances of the Bank of England reducing its interest rate tomorrow are virtually non-existent. 

"The swaps market... is already implying that there will be just one further cut to the base rate this year," Stimson added. 

"Until last week, it wasn't unreasonable to expect that this cut might come in August. But with inflation proving increasingly stubborn, the probability of this happening has slipped to no more than 50/50." 

'Focus on getting best available rates'

His thoughts were echoed by David Hollingworth, associate director at the UK's largest mortgage broker L&C Mortgages, who said borrowers should be focusing on getting the best available rate. 

"Mortgage rates have been harder to call in recent weeks.  After a period of fixed rate increases, there's now a more mixed move in rates with some lenders cutting deals again slightly, as markets find their level," he said. 

"Overall, it looks as though fixed rates may bobble up and down without any significant trend or shift either way.  Borrowers would be better to focus on getting the best available rates and keeping under review, rather than second-guessing the next move in interest rates."

You might have seen news outlets reporting this morning's inflation data slightly differently. Some, like us,  have said it has eased, while others have said it has stayed the same. 

Here's why. 

Officially, according to data from the Office for National Statistics, inflation fell from 3.5% in April to 3.4% in May. 

But the ONS has also said that April's initial data was incorrect and should have been 3.4%. 

This was because it uncovered an error in the vehicle tax numbers provided to them by the Department for Transport. 

When a mistake is made, the ONS can revise the data, correcting it on the record, but despite acknowledging the error, it did not issue a revision. 

It said: "In line with our revisions policy, the April figures have not been amended but the correct vehicle excise data information has been used when producing the May index." 

Inflation is one of the economic indicators closely watched by the Bank of England when it sets its base rate. 

When inflation is high, it tends to increase the rate to try to slow spending and encourage people to save, which helps to bring inflation back down. 

When inflation falls, interest rates usually follow.

The Bank will make its next interest rate decision tomorrow, but despite inflation easing slightly, economists are expecting it to hold it at 4.25%. 

This is due to a number of factors, including rising oil and gas prices caused by the escalating Israel-Iran conflict and uncertainty around the global economy thanks to Donald Trump's tariffs. 

"The recent movements in energy prices add further uncertainty to an already volatile global economic backdrop," Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG, one of the biggest UK accounting firms, said.

"This presents another challenge for the Bank of England to navigate and tomorrow's meeting is unlikely to result in a shift from the MPC's cautious approach.

"Nonetheless, developments on the domestic front should provide some comfort, with early indications that the disinflation process remains on track despite the recent rise in labour costs." 

Rachel Reeves says there is "more to do" to bring down inflation and make "working people better off". 

Reacting to the inflation data released this morning, she says the government's "number one mission is to put more money in the pockets of working people".

"We took the necessary choices to stabilise the public finances and get inflation under control after the double digit increases we saw under the previous government, but we know there's more to do," she says. 

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride says the latest data is "deeply worrying".

"Labour's choices to tax jobs and ramp up borrowing are killing growth and stoking inflation - making everyday essentials more expensive," he says. 

The UK has one of the highest rates of inflation in the G7.

Canada, the US, France, Italy and Germany all recorded inflation rates lower than 3.4% in May.

We are still waiting for Japan's latest data, which is why it's not included in the table below, but in April, prices rose at a rate of 3.6%. 

We've also included the inflation rate in the eurozone - the countries that use the euro -  for comparison. 

It recorded inflation at 1.9% in May.

Transport costs helped to bring down inflation slightly last month but this was offset by rising food and furniture prices, according to the Office for National Statistics. 

Plane fares and fuel prices fell in May, but the cost of products such as chocolate, meat, fridge freezers and vacuum cleaners increased, the acting chief economist for the ONS Richard Heys said. 

"A variety of counteracting price movements meant inflation was little changed in May," he said. 

"Air fares fell this month, compared with a large rise at the same time last year, as the timing of Easter and school holidays affected pricing. Meanwhile, motor fuel costs also saw a drop.

"These were partially offset by rising food prices, particularly items such as chocolates and meat products. The cost of furniture and household goods, including fridge freezers and vacuum cleaners, also increased."