Dr. Peter Bacon:

They were part of my deliberations. They are contained in my first report, which differed from the subsequent two reports in containing the results of an extensive consultation with the stakeholders of the sector, including the financial institutions who provided the lending. On the question of how to judge what size mortgage to give, the answer was consistently two and a half to three times plus one. In other words, the rule of thumb was two and a half to three times the income of the principal household earner and one times the income of a second earner.