Council Bosses Alarmed as Borrowers Abandon Homes

Figures this week show Dublin householders are leaving council properties in droves. With more and more borrowers struggling to meet council mortgages and choosing instead to make interest-only repayments, 41 more householders are handing back their keys to the Council.

Documention revealed to the Irish Herald by Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn, “A number of borrowers have abandoned their property leaving the City Council with no alternative other than repossess the dwelling.” This has a knock-on effect for the council due to the lost revenue and the falling value of housing.

“We have a situation where people are abandoning their homes and not even alerting the council,” said Cllr Flynn. “That leaves us with a scenario where houses are being completely abandoned and when the council finds them they are thrashed.”

A significant portion of the council’s mortgage holders are in arrears and experts are concerned that the situation will only get worse in the next few years. Dublin Council’s previous decision to allow 100 percent mortgages on properties has left their multi-million Euro loan accounts book looking bleak.

Out of the 64 properties repossessed by the City Council in 2010, 41 were abandoned. 351 home owners with Council mortgages are currently repaying interest-only instalments on their mortgages and another 456 agreements to allow mortgage holders to refinance their monthly instalments have been granted.

Despite the availability of such agreements, not all home owners have been willing or able to take assistance from the Council. According to Cllr Flynn’s documentation, “a number of borrowers have failed to engage with the City Council and policies such as mortgage supports do not function in cases of this nature.”

Cllr Flynn described the situation as “extremely serious” and believes “the whole mortgage scheme is a failure,” adding it “is going to cripple this authority.”

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