I sent this out to the media this afternoon
The Central Bank today issued its Retail Interest Rates for November.
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The average variable rate for new business is about 1.5% higher in Ireland than the average for the rest of the eurozone.
That means that someone with a €200k mortgage is paying about €250 more in interest each and every month.
The vast majority of people pay their mortgage even if they have to struggle to do so. They are paying not only their own mortgage, but they are also paying the mortgage for those who haven't made a mortgage payment in years.
Those politicians and debt campaigners who call for a ban on home repossessions and who threaten to protest outside every eviction should realise that their irresponsible behaviour is imposing an additional cost of about €3,000 a year on responsible borrowers.
Irish mortgage holders in difficulty are the best protected in the World
- We have a Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears which ties the hands of the banks in what they can do
- We have a court system that is very unwilling to grant an order for possession
- We have a Sheriff system that is very unwilling to enforce those orders
- We have a Personal Insolvency System which allows the courts to write down mortgages and set mortgage rates
- We have one year bankruptcy
- And after all that, we have a scandalous Mortgage to Rent Scheme, where the tax payer will pay a market rent to a fund and the council will rent it back to the former owner for an average of €50 a week and the borrower has the option to buy back the house at market value in the future.
Irish mortgage holders should be given the choice
Do you want to pay average eurozone rates if it means that some borrowers who don't pay their mortgages will lose their homes?
Or
Are you ok paying an extra €3,000 a year for those borrowers who can't or won't pay their mortgage
Brendan Burgess