Mortgage rules could be eased to boost lending

Lenders would welcome the move, but some may question whether lessons have been learnt from the crisis.

Charles Roe, director of mortgages at UK Finance, which represents lenders, said: “Reviewing the mortgage lending rules would help with affordability issues, not just for first time buyers but also those looking to move further up the housing ladder.

“Banks will always lend responsibly but the current rules are restricting the number of people who can get a mortgage and so could be relaxed.”

The FCA’s second new idea is to scrap the £100 limit on contactless cards, to make it easier to spend.

When contactless card payments were introduced in 2007, the transaction limit was set at £10. Cards were generally used in this way in place of small change when buying snacks, papers and occasional groceries.

The limit was raised gradually, to £20 in 2012, then to £30 in 2015, before going up to £100 in October 2021.

Both ideas would be designed to encourage spending but could also be inflationary. They would need to go through reviews and consultation, so are unlikely to be imminent changes, even if approved.