A new hope for families in debt trap

STILL OVER 600 KERRY HOUSEHOLDS WITH SERIOUS MORTGAGE ARREARS

MORE than 600 distressed mortgage holders in Kerry may find a solution to their difficulties through a new state-backed finance scheme.

New figures from the Central Bank’s Long-Term Mortgage Arrears in Ireland Report shows that 618 households in Kerry have been in mortgage arrears for over two years. Of these, over 475 mortgages have been in arrears for at least five years.

Despite the scale of the repayment problem in Kerry, figures from the Department of Housing show that only three households in the county have actually availed of the Government’s ‘Mortgage To Rent’ scheme.

Now a new Government-approved mortgage-to-rent provider, ‘Home For Life’ (HFL), has been created in a bid to help mortgage holders in unsustainable debt to stay in their homes, debt-free, as long-term tenants of their local authority.

HFL say that there is a strong possibility that they can come up with a solution in many cases of serious arrears.

The company works with homeowners, lenders and the local authority to keep people in their current homes, avoiding upheaval for families.

Under the scheme – which has the support of Fr Peter McVerry – properties are sold to HFL and then leased back to the State through the local authority which, in turn, sublets the property back to the homeowner.

The homeowner pays an affordable income-based rent to their local authority, which commits to provide for the ongoing long-term housing needs of the applicant.

Photo by Domnick Walsh Santa’s little helper: Martha Dunova from Tralee was one of the first children to meet Santa when he arrived at Manor West over the weekend.

Photo by Domnick Walsh. Santa received a big Tralee welcome at Manor West Shopping Centre this week as he arrived to take up residence for the next five weeks.