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OVER TEN PER cent of all Irish residential mortgages are in arrears of more than 90 days, according to new figures from the Central Bank.
A total of 77,630 – or 10.2 per cent – of Ireland’s mortgages are now at least three months behind with repayments. The figure is an increase from December 2011 when 9.2 per cent of mortgages were reported as being in arrears and illustrated the deepening mortgage crisis.
The number of mortgage holders in arrears of more than 180 days has also risen from 6.9 per cent in December to 7.8 per cent at the end of March.
A total of 170 properties were repossessed by lenders during the first three months of this year.
65 of these homes were repossessed after a court order, while the remaining 105 were voluntarily abandoned. The figure is an increase of 28 per cent compared with the final three months of last year.
The Central Bank figures found that 79,712 homes had their mortgages restructured, an increase of 7.2 per cent since the end of December. Almost half of the restructured accounts were in already in arrears.
There were over 70,000 mortgage holders more than 90 days behind in the repayments by the end of December 2011. Of these, 53,086 were in arrears beyond 180 days.
The figures suggested that the average mortgage holder was €1,453 behind in their repayments by last December.
AIB, which has a large number of mortgage customers, said that more than 33,000 customers have worked out an agreement to delay foreclosure of their homes.
“We full accept that [arrears] are concerning for a lot of our customers and have been working to ensure we support customers in this situation,” said Jim O’Keeffe, head of mortgages at AIB.
The bank urged anyone facing difficulties in relation to their mortgage repayments to talk the mortgage provider at the earliest possible opportunity.
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In arrears too but trying to arrange things for last 9 months. I’m dealing with person who won’t even bother to reply to emails. No calls in 4 months. Very stressful.
i hope u never find yourself in the situation many people in Ireland today … i paid my taxes when i was working i am entitled to 46 euro s month mortgage interest relief yet others are claiming full rent up to 900 a month for their rented houses.. if i was younger i would leave this country .. lower standard of living i would find it hard to believe it could be lower at this moment in time… where us your compassion for other human beings or are u so self centred that as long as you are ok to hell with anyone else
believe me its a unbelievable situation to be in …. two grand in arrears doesn’t come close.. x by 10
@irish renters. What do you do if you can’t afford your rent? Move? To where? What if you have lost your job, is it streets for you? Homeowners can’t go anywhere. Do we Hand over keys and still have loan for next 25 years with rent and bills to pay …
I take whatever welfare I’m entitled to so I could use rental allowance and get on the housing list. Homeowners have the same options. If there is 100 or 200k remaining to be paid off then so be it. They will have to contend with a reduced standard of living for the rest of their life. They are not going to be unemployed forever. If they can’t afford this then they can declare themselves bankrupt.
@Irish renter love those easy answers.Since you admit you’re not a homeowner(you own the house or mortgaged on it)i’m amazed at your suggestions to homeowners.BTW renters are not homeowners in any shape or from.
These suggestions are not for their benefit they are for the wider society and the hundreds of thousands of renters in Ireland who have little housing security and are being forced to pay for others, many of whom can afford their mortgages. You can get more info here. http://www.facebook.com/IrishRentersAssociation
Forced to pay for others?how did you arrive that please explain?
Fairly easily. Anybody who gets a debt writeoff or writedown from the many state owned banks will result in an equivalent loss to the exchequer. So a 200k debt writeoff will be funded with interest by taxpayers.
From the many state owned banks?who pays for rent allowance?sorry but your comments are bordering on the silly.
It is enough to pay for social housing without adding more. At least there are stringent means tests and other rules for social housing. Currently we have a situation where a couple of millionaires can live in their 5 bed killiney house for over 4 years without paying a cent.
@Renters i’m done responding to you take whatever chip is on your shoulder off and cop on to yourself,educate yourself to others plight before you make stupid sweeping comments.Why not post under your real name,just saying.
Norman he has a point just as much as you gave your own interest to look after. I can see his point to be honest!
@Norman @Peter
Why should taxpayers bail you out? The bank didn’t force you to borrow but you did.
When the state “bailed out” the banks they took them over and dispossed their shareholders. Fancy the same medicine?
You are every bit as responsible as any bank.
@Eric try reading my posts they were directed to Irish renters.I did not ask or require a “bailout” as you put it.I own my home not any bank just me.
@irishrenters you say that if you can’t afford rent you apply for to get on the housing list. Who pays for that? The Irish tax payer! Yet you complain that the tax payer has to foot the bill for foreclosures. Double standards?
If I’m unemployed then what else am going supposed to do Colm? You haven’t thought that one through, story of your life is bet.
On one hand you complain about tax payers having to pay for write offs but you also say you would have no problem with tax payers paying for you to live in social housing of you couldn’t afford rent! I think it’s you that hasn’t thought this through
Poor banks… God love them
It’s not the banks I’d be worried about. Looks like there are a hell of a lot of people under sever stress. Must be a horrible situation to be in…..
If you can’t afford the mortgage then you have no right to live in the house. Surrender the property to the bank and find somewhere cheaper to live. Banks should be offering low interest loans to cover the shortfall in sale price. People need to take personal responsibility for their financial decisions.
Its the banks that broke the rules by giving over inflated loans even when they knew it was all going to collapse.People were sucked in by the whole own your home at any cost mentality.Yes people cant afford these loans now because of job losses or wage reductions yet the people who brought this country to its knees ie.{bankers, regulators who didnt regulate and government } Still walking free without a care in the world.It just shows your mentality when you come on here and try blame people who were led to think it was the right way to go.
In 2002 my rent was increased by 25%. My wages did not increase that year so I had no option but to move out to cheaper accommodation. Where was my bailout? Why should a “homeowner” get special treatment. A person renting is more of a homeowner as they have zero equity in a house. These people have less than zero equity.
@Colm Sheehan, you don’t have the right to criticise the banks or politicians though if you advise the rest of us to do exactly the same: walk away from responsibility and expect to be bailed out.
From a country corrupt at the top you want to create a country corrupt top to bottom. How will that help?
I don’t believe its that simple just to surrender a house and jus walk away from it?! … If that was the case probably more people would be doing it
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:-)
Yeah… And the Central Bank of Ireland still makes €1.2bn profit … Poor banks…
irish renters so everybody who is in trouble with a mortgage should instead of trying to pay it they should just hand it back to the bank then sign on the dole claim rent allowance where is all the money to pay for this going to come from.
AS for you gastrophase I have every right to criticize bankers and politicians AS a tax paying voter. I think if more people gave out to these people we might not have come to this. I dont know where you got the idea I wanted to make the whole country corrupt But I do agree about the clowns at the top. I never mentioned bailing out anybody I was just laying blame where it should lie.
Colm you have me completely wrong. Everybody shoukd pay their debts if they have the means. That might mean sacrifices in lifestyle. If a person is unemployed then that goes out the window as unemployment benefits are not there to fund previous debts.
I’m not looking for a bailout. I’m trying to work with the bank so I can manage the repayments and feed myself in the process. I cut all my luxuries. My issue is that I cant get to talk with anyone in the bank.
Peter you should get in touch with the central bank if your not getting any response. It is very important that you can show you have been trying to contact your bank and they have not responded.
@eric. Last comment was for you.
@All. There’s a lot of fighting talk goin on here between ordinary decent people. We should be sticking together to claw our way out of this mess. We all have to shoulder some responsibility for the mess. Ourselves, the banks the government, we took the loans the bank gave them to us and the government which we the IRISH people voted in lined tgeir iwn pickets and allowed it all to happen. Less of the bickering and let’s stand together.
have your say