Latest news with #CelticTiger-era
Irish Examiner
27-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
100% mortgages would drive up house prices, Central Bank warns
Celtic Tiger-era 100% mortgages would drive up house prices and increase risks to borrowers and banks, the Central Bank has warned. Mark Cassidy, the Central Bank's director of financial stability, warned TDs and senators at the Oireachtas housing committee against the return of 100% mortgages. 'We think that would be a bad idea,' Mr Cassidy said. It would add to demand without any impact on supply and therefore add to prices. 'More fundamentally, it increases the risk for borrowers and for banks.' Banks introduced 100% mortgages during the Celtic Tiger period, but more recent Central Bank rules do not allow either 100% or 95% mortgages to be given out. Current rules require borrowers to have a 10% deposit in order to obtain a mortgage. Mr Cassidy said reintroducing 100% mortgages would increase the risk of default, if a household's income fell. He added that, if house prices fall, homeowners would immediately fall into negative equity and would be likely to 'get into financial distress'. 'We believe a minimum of a 10% deposit remains necessary for either first time borrowers or existing borrowers,' he added. 'We would be confident that 100% mortgages are overly risky, both from the perspective of the borrower and the perspective of the bank.' The matter was raised by a number of TDs and senators during the meeting, who questioned whether it would be possible to allow for the reintroduction of 100% mortgage products. It comes as Independent Ireland has called for the reintroduction of 100% mortgages, saying that many tenants are able to pay more in rent than they would need for monthly mortgage repayments. The Central Bank was also critical of Government plans to consider expanding the First Home shared equity scheme to second-hand homes. Robert Kelly, the Central Bank's director of economics and statistics, warned against the measure. 'The challenge in front of us, it's mainly supply. The current scheme works through pushing up demand and house prices, creating more additional funding for them to buy houses so it stimulates supply. 'I don't see how applying that to the second-hand housing market would achieve that. I think the net effect of that would be additional demand, which would likely feed its way into house prices as opposed to creating large amounts of supply.'
Irish Independent
14-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Celtic Tiger-era developer Sean Dunne's first wife able to claim €1.5m from his bankruptcy estate
The first wife of Celtic Tiger-era property developer Sean Dunne will be able to claim €1.5m from his bankruptcy estate.
Irish Examiner
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
West Cork towns and villages 'dying a death' from lack of housing due to water and sewerage issues
Cork County Council is seeking a comprehensive report from Uisce Éireann on all water and sewerage capacity issues in its region, while calling for developers to be permitted to carry out water and wastewater projects themselves. The council is to write to the utility and minister for housing James Browne on the two issues following a motion from Independent councillor Finbarr Harrington, who said towns and villages in the region were stagnating, even though many developers are willing to carry out water and wastewater infrastructure services as part their housing projects. He said most towns and villages in the West Cork region were at or very close to capacity for such infrastructure and these deficits could be addressed by developers. Mr Harrington and other councillors said if Uisce Éireann officials oversee such projects to ensure they are of an acceptable standard, there should be no problem with developers building badly-needed homes and the utility taking in charge of water and sewerage systems once completed. Mayor of County Cork Joe Carroll said Mr Harrington's motion 'makes absolute sense'. Fine Gael councillor Kay Dawson claimed Mitchelstown 'has lost a generation' because young families moved elsewhere as no houses have been built, with the sewerage treatment plant at capacity. Social Democrats councillor Eamon Horgan claimed the department and Uisce Éireann were not working in tandem to tackle the need for new housing 'to salvage towns and villages which are dying a death". Independent councillor Alan Coleman said during the Celtic Tiger-era, some developers got a bad name by putting in substandard infrastructure, but lessons had to be learnt from that and if the work was properly supervised, these issues should not arise again. Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Kelly said no new houses have been built in her hometown of Dunmanway since 2023 because of Uisce Éireann capacity deficiencies, yet several local developers have said they would gladly do that work themselves. Council chief executive Moira Murrell said 'given the scale of issues across the county', the local authority is prepared to work with the Uisce Éireann and the department to address 'the urgency of what is required' and 'look at new solutions and innovations'. Read More Cork site where body of murdered RIC constable is thought to be buried gets green light for housing development
