A BREXIT would send the pound plunging and seriously hamper the housing market, the Bank of England has warned.

Policymakers say EU referendum uncertainty has already sparked a slowdown in car and home sales and forced the postponement of corporate and commercial real estate deals.

The Bank, alongside the Treasury, has been accused by senior Conservatives and Leave supporters, including ex-Chancellors Lord Norman Lamont and Lord Nigel Lawson, of “peddling phoney forecasts.”

However, Bank governor, Mark Carney, said the EU result remains the “largest immediate risk” to global financial markets, adding a Brexit could trigger a recession in the UK.

Mr Carney also hit back at a letter from Vote Leave campaign director, Bernard Jenkin, who criticised the Bank for ignoring rules banning it from making public comments in the run-up to the vote.

Mr Carney said: “The Bank has a duty to report our evidence-based judgements to Parliament and the public.

“Public comments that I, and other Bank officials, have made regarding the referendum have been limited to factors that affect the Bank’s statutory responsibilities and have been entirely consistent with our remits.”

Mr Carney also confirmed all nine-members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee had voted to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5 per cent, where they have been since March 2009.