McVerry endorses the Home for Life mortgage scheme
FR Peter McVerry has endorsed a drive led by Bray man Paul Cunningham to help over 800 mortgages in distress in County Wickloow.
More than 800 distressed mortgage holders in County Wicklow are being offered a solution thanks to an innovative state-backed finance scheme.
Startling new figures put at 826 the number of households in the county in mortgage arrears for over two years while over 630 of that number have mortgage arrears for at least five years.
Now a Government approved provider of Mortgage To Rent, Home For Life (HFL) is spearheading a fresh drive aimed at facilitating those mortgage holders in unsustainable debt, stay in their current homes debt free as long-term tenants of their Local Authority.
Paul Cunningham is well-known in GAA circles as chairman of the local Bray Emmets club, but as CEO of Home For Life he is leading the way in finding solutions for those in serious mortgage arrears and facing the fear of losing their homes.
Mr Cunningham said there is a strong possibility his company can come up with a solution for those in serious mortgage arrears.
His company works with homeowners, lenders and the local authority to keep unsustainable mortgage holders in their current homes, thereby avoiding the upheaval of families having to seek another residence.
Under the scheme, a property is sold to Home For Life and then leased back to the State through the local authority, which in turn sublets the house or apartment back to the homeowner. The homeowner pays an affordable income-based rent to their local authority.
As part of the scheme in Wicklow, the local authority would then undertake to provide for the ongoing long-term housing needs of the applicant and other eligible residents of the property for as long as their housing need exists.
According to Mr Cunningham, the biggest challenge in the old Mortgage To Rent scheme up to recently was the delays in getting individual cases over the line.
‘We have done the groundwork over the past year so that we can now guarantee that in most cases, the legal and other agreements are streamlined in such a way that all the documentation for individual cases can be completed within four to six months,’ he said.
‘We know how worried householders in these circumstances are about their future and the quicker we find a solution which keeps them securely in their homes, and mortgage debt free, the better for everyone,’ he said. ‘We are now at that point which is why we are letting people know they have a real alternative to the situation in which so many find themselves in for various reasons.’
The Home For Life team are currently undertaking a new drive to ensure that people are aware there is a way out of the despair of finding themselves so far in mortgage arrears.
‘If you take Wicklow, I was surprised to find that of the 826 cases, only seven had found a solution through mortgage to rent,’ said Mr Cunningham. ‘This is probably due to the fact that councillors, community leaders and advisors were unaware up to now that the government’s Mortgage to Rent Scheme was a real deliverable solution for homeowners whose mortgages are unsustainable and are likely to remain unsustainable and who are at most acute risk of losing their homes.’
HFL is working with all banks and funds and can facilitate all properties irrespective of the property’s location or condition. The scheme has specific eligibility criteria that is required to be met around household income, value of the property, does the home meet the reasonable housing needs of the household, and the requirement the property is in negative equity or a small amount of positive equity.
Contact Paul Cunningham at paul@homeforlife.ie or call 1800 832 190