'Where’s the bail-out for mortgage holders?' asks Pearse Doherty

AFTER Permanent TSB'S warning on Friday that it is increasing interest rates on fixed rate mortgages by 1%, Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty has contrasted the pressure on home-owners with the bail-out for banks.

An increase of 1% on a €150,000 mortgage will mean that homeowners have to pay an extra €97.40 per month.

The past year has seen a steady rise in the numbers of households in mortgage arrears which now stands at over 40,000, amounting to almost €8billion.

Pearse Doherty said:

The current economic downturn exacerbated by the austerity policies of the Fianna Fáil/Green Government – which are promised to be continued by Fine Gael and Labour – has driven many families into mortgage difficulties.

Given that many mortgages were given out at a time of inflated house prices and bad lending practises, and given the massive bail-out for the banks, a radical new approach needs to be taken in relation to mortgages.

A huge number of people are paying mortgages on homes that have fallen well below the value which they were when they bought them. Options such as partial debt forgiveness and a re-evaluation of mortgages for those who cannot afford to pay them in full need to be looked at as one of the ways to address this growing problem.