It is "not unreasonable" for investors to anticipate a 2% base rate as early as 2016, but increasing rates is still considered a last resort to tame the housing market, according to Bank of England policymaker David Miles.
Miles, a member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said it would exhaust other measures before acting to up rates from their historic lows of 0.5%. "In terms of a generalised overheating housing market, I don't think that's a good description of where we are," Miles told Bloomberg TV. "If you did get into a situation where the tools that the Financial Policy Committee have seem not up to the job of stopping overheating in the housing market, we would then turn to the blunter instrument of using Bank Rate. We're a long way from that." Miles added house price measures wer...
To continue reading this article...
Join Professional Adviser for free
Signup and gain exclusive members-only insights
- Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
- Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
- Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
- Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
- Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
- Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes
