Daft Property - Irish Property News

Banks 'ignoring their ghost estates'... BANKS are choosing to avoid the legal responsibility for cleaning up hundreds of unfinished housing estates. Some 230 unfinished and dangerous estates have been abandoned by developers -- and banks which funded the projects have decided not to appoint receivers in an attempt to claw back the money. If receivers were appointed the banks would be legally responsible for clearing up the mess. Banks across the board have been blamed for refusing to address the problem. According to Housing Minister Willie Penrose, in some cases efforts by local authorities to meet with banks and developers to discuss the problem had met with no response. Banks also failed to appoint people to deal with the issue. He warned he would consider introducing legislation forcing the banks to take responsibility, or face the prospect of being fined. "I'll be looking to the banks and developers to designate key contacts. I'm also examining t

BANKS RISK making people homeless and adding further vacant houses to an already struggling property market if they raise mortgage interest rates too much, Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran has warned. He has urged a new government to use its influence with the banks to ensure families do not lose their homes as a result of aggressive interest rate increases. “I am appealing to the banks . . . It would be a terrible, unfortunate thing that we have vacant properties all around this country and we created more vacant properties because people were not able to make repayments. That would be a scandal, and should not be allowed,” said Mr Finneran yesterday at the launch of a new service for homeless people. He said many families were now at the “pin of their collar” and there was a certain level at which they would not be able to make repayments on their homes. He said the number of family homes repossessed in the recession was still very low due to the leniency of the

House buyers were given 100pc loans during crash... Irish banks agreed to provide 100pc mortgages to one-in-four young first-time buyers last year despite a collapse in the property market. Thousands entering the property market for the first time took out mortgages with loan-to-value ratios of over 95pc with up to 5,000 taking out the 100pc housing loan. The Department of the Environment's Housing Bulletin 2008 also revealed that the average age of those who successfully obtained a 100pc mortgage was 31 years. These loans were taken out for between 31 and 35 years, which would indicate that people would be paying back the cost of their home until they retire. Banning Earlier this year, the Financial Regulator said it was considering banning 100pc mortgages and restricting lenders offering homebuyers loans greater than three times their annual salaries. This followed the publication of a report by the British financial regulator which said there was a case for limiting the size of