by Andrew Carey
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THE number of distressed borrowers struggling with mortgage arrears in Limerick has doubled over the last three years.
The latest quarterly figures from the Central Bank show that just over 11 per cent of Limerick homeowners are more than 90 days in default with their mortgages. Any further slippage could see repossession orders issued on one in ten Limerick homes.
Residential mortgages in default for more than 90 days are continuing to rise sharply, despite Finance Minister Michael Noonan’s comments last week that banks were meeting the criteria set out by the Central Bank for handling distressed mortShe’s being Release in next few mins file to Dppgages.
Nationally, almost 100,000 mortgages are in distress and the number of homeowners exceeding their 90 day credit terms has risen by over 1,300.
Describing the latest figures as disappointing, Limerick Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea said there were also signs of a sharp rise in arrears amongst buy-to-let properties.
“The number of householders in arrears have now doubled since the Government came to office. The scale of the problem is enormous and I know from dealing with constituents that the issue of mortgage arrears is a huge problem in Limerick”, he said.
“I get the sense that complacency has set in amongst Government Ministers in relation to mortgage arrears because of the recent positive trend in relation to employment data.”
The problem could get even worse if the Government remains stuck in a mode of thinking whereby the banks are allowed to dictate the pace and nature of any restructuring arrangements that are put in place.”
“The Government’s Mortgage Arrears Resolution Targets Programme has made the situation worse for some borrowers, with the banks stepping up legal proceedings with over 13,000 threats of repossession issued since the targets were set.
He said the situation could be improved by the creation of an independent mortgage resolution office or alternatively by legislation mandating what offer the banks must make to customers in certain circumstances.
