Family Homes Need Legal Protection

Ireland’s largest social housing provider is calling on the Government to introduce a new Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme for those who have experienced a sudden drop in income. The scheme would offer those in difficulty the option to renegotiate their mortgage and/or defer up to 70% of the interest on their monthly repayments. Respond! contends that the Code of Practice recently put in place in Ireland does not go far enough to protect homeowners and that this scheme needs to be introduced now by Government and lenders. This proposal coincides with the call for justice from the Bishops of Ireland Conference and with proposals suggested by other leading economists.
Respond! spokesperson John Hannigan maintains that banking institutions should offer this assistance to homeowners as their risk has already been secured through Government Guarantee Schemes and the Bank Recapitalisation Scheme.
“The Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme would offer assistance to homeowners who have experienced a recent drop in income or become unemployed. For these people we are proposing that they can defer up to 70% of the interest of their monthly mortgage repayments for no more than two years, similar to the arrangement recently agreed in Britain (an arrangement which is supported by the Bank of Ireland there). This is simply a method of deferring payment, not cancelling it. We are also proposing that those given excessive mortgages that far exceeded their income should be allowed renegotiate their mortgage to a suitable level appropriate to their current income. Where the property was grossly overstated in order for the banks to lend on the mortgage, these people should also be allowed to renegotiate to the property’s true value. A lot of people were victims of “reckless lending” on the part of our financial institutions and it is unjust that banks have failed to pass the benefit of recent Government guarantees onto struggling Irish families.”
Respond! argues that with almost 50 repossession cases being heard on a weekly basis in the High Court, the Government needs to act quickly to remove the culture of fear that exists among Irish families. The housing charity claims that the recent mortgage moratorium does not assist many homeowners - it simply delays the inevitable by allowing arrears to accumulate for 12 months.
“This Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme is essential following the recent Budget. Even those individuals fortunate enough to still be in employment will experience a dramatic loss in earnings from May 1st. It is only in the coming months will we know the real extent of this recession on Irish families and this Government needs to act now to protect them. Every one has a right to a home and this Mortgage Support Scheme is the only way Government can deliver this to the Irish people” concluded Hannigan.
This is one of the key topics being discussed at the upcoming Respond! Conference, “Is Combating Poverty a Dead Agenda?” on May 7th in the Osprey Hotel, Naas, Co Kildare. The event will be chaired by Eddie Hobbs and those speaking include Minister for Housing Michael Finneran, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, Noeline Blackwell (FLAC) and John Mark McCafferty (Saint Vincent de Paul). Further information can be obtained by emailing conference@respond.ie or visiting www.respond.ie