Help at hand for distressed home owners

David Hall, a mortgage expert and campaigner, has predicted a ‘tsunami of repossessions’ of family homes in Galway, and across the country, unless Government takes its ‘head out of the sand’ in relation to the ongoing mortgage and housing crisis.

Mr Hall, of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, said that 50% of those in long-term arrears cannot pay, which equates to 29,000 families nationally, and hundreds in Galway.

“Those figures are alarming; and they’re not my figures, they’re the prediction of the Central Bank,” he said.

Mr Hall said that one of the issues faced by campaigners like him was that many people are under the impression that this problem has been solved now that the economy is back on an even keel.

But the crisis of mortgage arrears is affecting every parish in rural Ireland, he said.

“The reality is that not all boats have risen in the recovery and there are many, many people in Galway and all over the country who are still struggling to repay their mortgage,” he said.

And far from rescuing homeowners saddled with debt, rising house prices was worsening their lot, he said.

In Galway, some 17 families have already been thrown a lifeline and saved from repossession by i-Care, a not-for-profit housing company and registered charity, dedicated to specifically helping those in long-term distress.

And Mr Hall has predicted there are dozens more families in Galway who could benefit from the scheme – and remain in their homes.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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