Britain should consider imposing tougher mortgage limits and using deterrents against overseas buyers of UK property to prevent a housing bubble destabilising the economy, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
House price booms are a consistent cause of recessions and the authorities should take more pre-emptive action to stop the damaging cycle repeating itself, the world’s financial watchdog said before its spring meetings next week.
“The most recent data seem to point to an increase in downside risks to house prices over the next one to three years in some countries,” it said. “This may be a cause for concern.”
