Stephen Hester, the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, has given the clearest indication yet that there could be a softer landing than many feared for a property industry facing up to the reality of its £225bn of outstanding debt.

Mr Hester, sitting on a UK book holding about £50bn of this mountain, told the British Property Federation’s conference last week that there would be no repeat of the early 1990s, when banks were ruthless in pursuit of loans in default. Scores of administrations, including some of the UK’s biggest companies, resulted.