NORTHSIDE People has learned that Dublin City Council was owed over
?¬8 million in arrears from Shared Ownership loan holders last year and has repossessed 31 homes since the start of 2011.
This year alone, there were at least 10 house repossessions in Finglas and it’s feared this figure will surge over the coming months.
In an official document, sent by a council senior executive officer to ministers and TDs and seen by Northside People, it was revealed that figures for June 2011 indicated that 1,263 loan accounts were in arrears to a total value of
?¬8,293,346.06.
Twenty-six per cent of 1,263 accounts were in arrears of three months or more. Almost 100 were in arrears worth more than
?¬20,000 representing between two and eight years of instalments.
Shared Ownership is often described as the
‘loan of last resort’ for low income earners to take a step into home ownership. They can then incrementally own the property by transferring to a 100 per cent mortgage over time.
Through the scheme an applicant can select a property, which the council then buys on their behalf. The property is then leased back to the applicant by way of a 50-50 lease and mortgage loan arrangement.
In effect, Shared Ownership is a 100 per cent loan and applicants must provide proof of two refusals from private lenders.
According to Dublin North West TD Dessie Ellis (SF), by September of this year 90 house repossessions in the Shared Ownership scheme will have been carried out.
“Last week alone there were three repossessions in Finglas,
? he stated.
“Twenty-seven of these account holders have been identified as people in serious of housing so they cannot be left without a roof over their heads.
“These are the kind of repossessions and evictions that could get very, very nasty.
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Deputy Ellis believes the situation of escalating arrears and Shared Ownership repossessions was inevitable given the nature of the scheme and the financial circumstances of those eligible.
“It was seen as the loan of last resort by those who had been refused mortgages by banks because of their financial standing,
? he explained.
“The council’s criteria was low, too obliging and flawed, meaning that when the recession took hold and unemployment figures escalated so too did arrears.
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The Shared Ownership scheme is no longer open to new applicants.
According to a spokesperson for Dublin City Council, house repossessions are enforced as a last resort.
“Dublin City Council always endeavours to keep people in their homes and has a Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP) in place to this end,
? he told Northside People.
“It is only as a last resort that the council will initiate court proceedings to repossess a dwelling.
“Up to recently Dublin City Council repossessed very few properties due to mortgage arrears with an average of maybe one or two a year.
“It is only since 2010 that the numbers have increased significantly.
“It is the council’s belief, therefore, that it is the current economic situation and the consequent change in borrowers’ circumstances that has led to the increase in repossessions, rather than the nature of the Shared Ownership scheme.
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