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Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 October 2016

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Questions (169)

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

169. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Finance the number of house repossessions executed by financial institutions for each of the past six years; the number of these that relate to owner-occupied houses; the steps taken by the Government to deal with this issue; the steps proposed to alleviate this problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31553/16]

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Written answers

The following table presents aggregated data on property repossessions published by the Central Bank, including details of Primary Dwelling Home (PDH) and Buy-to-Let (BTL) properties taken into possession through Court Order, Voluntary Surrender or Abandonment by the borrower.  This data is published by the Central Bank and is available on their website at http://www.centralbank.ie/polstats/stats/mortgagearrears/Pages/Data.aspx.

On the question of Government Action to deal with mortgage arrears, the Deputy will be aware of concerted efforts by Government to resolve the issue over a number of years, including  revision of the Central Bank Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears in the interests of fairness for consumers, overhaul of bankruptcy rules, introduction of personal insolvency legislation, establishment of a mortgage-to-rent scheme and making available free access to up-to-date information about mortgage resolution options.

The Government also enacted the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act, 2015 on 8 July 2015 to ensure that relevant borrowers, whose loans are sold to third parties, maintain the same regulatory protections they had prior to the sale, including under the various statutory codes, such as the Consumer Protection Code and the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears.

The Deputy will be aware that the Action Plan For Housing and Homelessness, launched just last July, sets out, inter alia, the Government strategy to meet the challenging Programme for a Partnership Government(PfPG) commitments to mortgage arrears.  Implementation of this plan is being overseen by the Cabinet Committee on Housing and Homelessness.

In this context, the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Service, Abhaile, offers support to distressed borrowers who are at risk of losing their homes. Free expert financial and legal advice is now available to those having difficulty meeting their mortgage payments. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) is the gateway for access to such advice and I would urge anyone worried about their mortgage arrears to contact MABS to avail of free, confidential and independent advice.

In addition, I have written to the Governor of the Central Bank to request that an assessment be undertaken of the range of available sustainable restructure solutions offered by banks and non-bank entities. The Central Bank expects to complete this assessment in the coming weeks.

Finally, it is  worth noting that Mortgage Arrears and Repossessions data released by the Central Bank for quarter 2-2016 provided further evidence that progress is being made in addressing mortgage arrears, with the number of PDH mortgage accounts in arrears continuing to fall for the 12th consecutive quarter. In addition, over 120,000 PDH mortgage accounts were classified as restructured, of which 88% were deemed to be meeting the terms of their restructure arrangement, the highest level since the series began. This shows that where a borrower actively engages with their lender with a view to agreeing a sustainable arrangement to address their mortgage arrears, it is more likely that an equitable arrangement will be found and that borrower will be able to remain in their family home.

Repossessions 2011-2016 - Central Bank Data

Primary Dwelling Homes (PDH) Repossessions

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016 to end Q2

Properties repossessed on foot of an order

196

194

251

315

726

240

Properties voluntarily surrendered/abandoned

412

409

515

996

809

578

TOTAL

608

603

766

1,311

1,535

818

Buy-to-let (BTL) Repossessions

2011

*Q3 & Q4 2012

2013

2014

2015

2016 to end Q2

Properties repossessed on foot of an order

50

100

170

562

312

Properties voluntarily surrendered/abandoned

112

183

290

279

295

TOTAL

162

283

460

841

607

TOTAL PDH & BTL

765

1,049

1,771

2,376

1,425

*Buy -To- Let Data was only published by the Central Bank from Sept 2012 onwards

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