Charles Haresnape, chairman of trade body the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), said lenders already had strict tests in place and the additional rules would have a smaller impact that some fear.

“Loan-to-income caps will make a marginal difference,” he said.

“Don’t forget most lenders have various tests in place right now to make sure loans are affordable. I think what this does is give a consistent approach across all the lender market and I see it making a marginal difference to the amount of mortgages available.”

Research from the trade body released last month found most lenders expect a rise in the base rate at the start of next year while mortgage brokers expect an increase by the end of 2014.

Haresnape said IMLA expected to see a rise in January and that there are still areas of the economy which must be monitored.

“We’re seeing a fairly stable, good growth rate at the moment so I don’t think there’s any emergency need to increase rates at the moment,” he said.

“We’re seen over recent months some good growth in house prices and good growth in reductions in unemployment which is all good news but what we’ve seen more recently is that wage rises are nowhere near keeping up pace with inflation.

“I must admit, at IMLA we’re more in favour of very early January or perhaps the tail end of this year but more likely into the start of next year.”