LONDON (Reuters) - Growth of mortgage debt in Britain remains very low even if the housing market is the biggest potential domestic threat to financial stability, Bank of England policymaker Ben Broadbent said on Wednesday.
"Domestically, the main potential threat lies in the housing market," Broadbent told lawmakers in Britain's parliament discussing his appointment as the BoE's next deputy governor for monetary policy.
He said past periods of strong house price growth had been associated with falling underwriting standards that led to rapid growth of risky mortgage debt.
"We are not yet at that stage," said Broadbent, who currently sits on the BoE's monetary policy committee as an external member. He is due to join the Bank's Financial Policy Committee when he becomes deputy governor in July.
Broadbent told lawmakers it would be wrong for the BoE to lean against fundamental factors that drive up house prices.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by William Schomberg)