1,000 a month seek help to pay mortgage...
MORE than 1,000 people a month are turning to the Government for help to pay their mortgages.
But as many as half of them are being turned down some months.
The dramatic rise in the numbers who cannot afford to meet their monthly mortgage repayments has underlined the scale of the crisis affecting a growing number of desperate homeowners.
The mortgage interest relief supplement is designed to cover the interest portion of the home loan. Those seeking aid have to show they negotiated to reschedule the mortgage payments with their lender. They also have to be means tested. And both husband and wife must be out of work.
The increase in applications comes at a time when mortgage interest rates are at record lows. Expected rises in the next year are likely to push substantially more people to the financial brink.
Figures obtained by the Irish Independent reveal that the Government expects to have to spend €60m this year helping homeowners to pay their mortgages. This is double the amount spent on the mortgage interest supplement scheme last year.
About 400 households a month are now getting an average of €367.40 every four weeks from the State to help them cover part of their repayments, the Department of Social and Family Affairs admitted yesterday. A total of 14,136 people are now receiving the mortgage assistance. This is expected to increase to 15,500 by the end of the year.
New figures show an average of 1,000 people a month are applying for the mortgage supplement, with up to 2,000 applying some months. However, large numbers of families are being refused the payment because of strict rules on who can qualify.
A report obtained by the Irish Independent reveals 2,116 people had claims for the mortgage interest supplement registered in May this year, but just 1,644 of these were granted assistance. This means close to 500 were turned down for State help that month.
The largest number of applicants was in the eastern part of the country, with the south-east also heavily represented in the figures.
Consultants who help people to appeal refusals for the state assistance said up to one-third of applications for the mortgage supplement were being turned down every month.
Director general of the Free Legal Aid Centres (FLAC) Noeline Blackwell said thousands of people were being refused assistance every month as the rules were so strict.
The supplement is designed to cover the interest portion of the home loan only, not capital payments.
It is assessed by community welfare officers, who are part of the Health Service Executive, but the funds are provided by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
Application
To have a successful application, people seeking the supplement must show evidence of having negotiated to reschedule the mortgage payments with their lender. They also have to be means tested, and both the husband and wife must be unemployed.
The rules also specify that a homeowner must have been in a position to meet the repayments when the home loan was taken out.
But many community welfare officers are concluding that anyone who took out a mortgage during the housing boom that was between five and six times their income could not afford to repay it, so the mortgage assistance is being refused.
Applications are also refused if the level of arrears is regarded as unreasonable.
People who re-mortgaged during the boom on the basis that their house increased in value are also finding themselves shut out from the scheme.
Ms Blackwell said thousands of people who took out mortgages with sub-prime lenders such as Start, but had since lost their jobs, were finding that they were not qualifying for the mortgage interest supplement.
Minister of State at the Department of Finance Dr Martin Mansergh told the Dail last week: "Applications to the scheme are lagging unemployment by some months and the rise in numbers is expected to continue for some time."
The Department of Social and Family Affairs said last night it was reviewing the operation of the scheme. This is to see if the scheme "can better meet its objective of catering effectively for those who need short-term assistance when they are unable to meet their mortgage interest payments".
A spokesman for the State-supported Money, Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) said a huge proportion of its clients were people having difficulty paying their mortgages.
Some 69pc of people who seek help from MABS are either in a job, have recently lost their job, or are self-employed.
Only one-third of those seeking MABS assistance are social welfare recipients.
Traditionally, the majority of those going to MABS were social welfare recipients.
Report by Charlie Weston - Irish Independent.
MORE than 1,000 people a month are turning to the Government for help to pay their mortgages.
But as many as half of them are being turned down some months.
The dramatic rise in the numbers who cannot afford to meet their monthly mortgage repayments has underlined the scale of the crisis affecting a growing number of desperate homeowners.
The mortgage interest relief supplement is designed to cover the interest portion of the home loan. Those seeking aid have to show they negotiated to reschedule the mortgage payments with their lender. They also have to be means tested. And both husband and wife must be out of work.
The increase in applications comes at a time when mortgage interest rates are at record lows. Expected rises in the next year are likely to push substantially more people to the financial brink.
Figures obtained by the Irish Independent reveal that the Government expects to have to spend €60m this year helping homeowners to pay their mortgages. This is double the amount spent on the mortgage interest supplement scheme last year.
About 400 households a month are now getting an average of €367.40 every four weeks from the State to help them cover part of their repayments, the Department of Social and Family Affairs admitted yesterday. A total of 14,136 people are now receiving the mortgage assistance. This is expected to increase to 15,500 by the end of the year.
New figures show an average of 1,000 people a month are applying for the mortgage supplement, with up to 2,000 applying some months. However, large numbers of families are being refused the payment because of strict rules on who can qualify.
A report obtained by the Irish Independent reveals 2,116 people had claims for the mortgage interest supplement registered in May this year, but just 1,644 of these were granted assistance. This means close to 500 were turned down for State help that month.
The largest number of applicants was in the eastern part of the country, with the south-east also heavily represented in the figures.
Consultants who help people to appeal refusals for the state assistance said up to one-third of applications for the mortgage supplement were being turned down every month.
Director general of the Free Legal Aid Centres (FLAC) Noeline Blackwell said thousands of people were being refused assistance every month as the rules were so strict.
The supplement is designed to cover the interest portion of the home loan only, not capital payments.
It is assessed by community welfare officers, who are part of the Health Service Executive, but the funds are provided by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
Application
To have a successful application, people seeking the supplement must show evidence of having negotiated to reschedule the mortgage payments with their lender. They also have to be means tested, and both the husband and wife must be unemployed.
The rules also specify that a homeowner must have been in a position to meet the repayments when the home loan was taken out.
But many community welfare officers are concluding that anyone who took out a mortgage during the housing boom that was between five and six times their income could not afford to repay it, so the mortgage assistance is being refused.
Applications are also refused if the level of arrears is regarded as unreasonable.
People who re-mortgaged during the boom on the basis that their house increased in value are also finding themselves shut out from the scheme.
Ms Blackwell said thousands of people who took out mortgages with sub-prime lenders such as Start, but had since lost their jobs, were finding that they were not qualifying for the mortgage interest supplement.
Minister of State at the Department of Finance Dr Martin Mansergh told the Dail last week: "Applications to the scheme are lagging unemployment by some months and the rise in numbers is expected to continue for some time."
The Department of Social and Family Affairs said last night it was reviewing the operation of the scheme. This is to see if the scheme "can better meet its objective of catering effectively for those who need short-term assistance when they are unable to meet their mortgage interest payments".
A spokesman for the State-supported Money, Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) said a huge proportion of its clients were people having difficulty paying their mortgages.
Some 69pc of people who seek help from MABS are either in a job, have recently lost their job, or are self-employed.
Only one-third of those seeking MABS assistance are social welfare recipients.
Traditionally, the majority of those going to MABS were social welfare recipients.
Report by Charlie Weston - Irish Independent.