Osborne hands BoE powers to control soaring house prices

In his annual Mansion House speech, the Chancellor announced the Bank will be allowed to cap mortgages for the first time and introduced a £5bn to help local authorities utilise brownfield sites for building. Though Osborne (pictured) said there is "no immediate cause for alarm" and vowed not to shut down his flagship Help to Buy scheme, he conceded if prices in London continue to rise at the current pace it would be "too fast for comfort". "There are, on the horizon, things that should give us some cause for concern," he said, adding that "the rate of price rises is beginning to spre...