Be vigilant on house prices says Carney

The governor of the Bank of England has told MPs how he might react if the recovery in the housing market turns into an unsustainable boom.

Asked in the Treasury Select Committee what could be done if house prices got out of hand Mark Carney said "we do need to be vigilant" and he would start with "more intensive supervision of mortgage lending".

Banks would have to make sure that there were appropriate limits on how much housebuyers could borrow in relation to their incomes or the value of the homes.

"There would be guidance to do with loan to income and loan to value," he said, though these would only have the force of recommendations.

And he warned that banks could be forced to set aside more capital to discourage them from reckless lending.

"You can extend all the way to sectoral capital requirement, additional capital required that banks would have to hold for mortgage lending," he said.

Today saw further evidence of a housing market revival, as lenders reported that lending to first time buyers was up 41 per cent compared with last year.

However, Mr Carney commented that the recovery needed to be put in context because activity was still at "two thirds or three quarters of pre-crisis levels".

"There are big pockets of the country where there has not been any meaningful recovery," he added.