UK minister urges BOE to clamp down on risky mortgages

[LONDON] British business minister Vince Cable yesterday urged the Bank of England (BOE) to clamp down on mortgages with high loan-to-income ratios to stop booming house prices from harming the economy.

Speaking ahead of keynote annual addresses to London's financial community by finance minister George Osborne and BOE governor Mark Carney, Mr Cable said he was "concerned" about rising house prices.

Mr Cable said experience of previous housing booms showed that mortgage loans of around 3-3.5 times people's incomes were seen as stable, and that he was "appalled" to see some banks lending as much as five times income.