Yes. Of the mortgages which ARE behind, the average arrears is €15,753.

Wow that is some statistic 15k behind… Ouch.

”By the end of December, 70,911 mortgage holders were more than 90 days behind on their repayments”

And how many hundred thousand people living in ”Negative Equity Denial” and such like?

Paying Ponzi Bank Debts with your hard earned real money?
Are you?

So you would rather see your grand kids pay your debt. Maybe we clear the debts and not pay the bondholders

The outcome in that scenario, greatly extended term, is dependant on inflation. If we enter a period of high inflation then the real value (purchasing power) of the mortgage will fall and this can be quite dramatic. It is possible that by the time the mortgage passes to a grand child it might be enough to by a bike. So what’s going to happen to inflation! It’s a guess but my money is on a sharp rise in about three years time. A bet based on the quantitive easing in the US, the UK and Japan. Evidence of it in the Eurozone. Add this to the inflationery trends in China and bingo.

So if I was a mortgage holder I would be looking at a 3 year horizon and do my best to get a repayment extension to relieve the current pressure.

I speak as one of those lucky sods who had a (for then) large mortgage of 3 times salary in 1970 and saw it whittle down to less than 8 months salary by 1980. All because of inflation.

Eh, lads did you ever hear of Life Assuance, namely Mortgage Protection Assurance (MPA)

Yes it is not a complete solution but it would help in the short term to give those struggling to meet mortgage repayments some breathing space. It will also bring some much needed spending power back to those people.

With regard to MPA it will have to be made compulsory to effect and MAINTAIN a MPA policy throughout the life of the borrower. At the momemt it is compulsory to effect a MPA when taking out the mortgage, but it is not necessary to maintain a MPA policy throughout the life of the mortgage. Obviously it is not recommended nor is it wise to lapse or cancel your MPA policy. This way the mortgage is cleared on the death of the borrower, thus the mortgage does not pass on to the next generation.

Yes the cost of the mortgage is going to be greater if you are paying it over a longer term, but by spreading the repayment over a longer term it reduces the immediate cost and gives relief to those under financial pressure. With regard to inflation, unfortunately as long as we are in the euro you will have to ignore it as the Germans will never allow it to go beyond 2%-3% and are manic if it is any higher than that!

It’s literally being worked on, literally, as I literally type. I direct your antsy glares to my colleague Jen Wade.

Oh, and of course progressive property taxes on the way also (even though most paid high stamp duty already) – double whoo hoo!

When have the Irish banking sector ever had to cut cloth to measure?! Sure we, the tax payer, are here to bail them out time and again… I’m sure Santas sack will have another couple billion euro in it for the February festive financial fiends tonight!! Shame on them!