{"id":653935,"date":"2026-10-14T00:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/653935\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T00:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:10:12","slug":"retirement-crisis-looms-for-those-in-mortgage-arrears-new-analysis-shows-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/653935\/","title":{"rendered":"Retirement crisis looms for those in mortgage arrears, new analysis shows \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

One in two of those in mortgage<\/a> arrears are unlikely to clear even half their outstanding loan balance by the time they retire, according to a fresh Central Bank of Ireland <\/a>analysis.<\/p>\n

While the number of mortgages linked to family homes that are in arrears of more than 90 days has fallen from a peak of 12.9 per cent of all principal dwelling home mortgages back in September 2013 to just 3.1 per cent at the end of last year, that still amounts to more than 21,000 home loans.<\/p>\n

And three-quarters of those in arrears now have their loans managed by loan servicing firms rather than the banks.<\/p>\n

The Solution Waterfall: Insights from Irish Mortgage Distress Cases examines the arrangements put in place for close to 5,400 people in 2024 by banks and loan servicing firms.<\/p>\n

Based on what they are paying and the time to retirement, the report\u2019s authors suggest that 31 per cent of those in arrears will not be able to make any headway in clearing their mortgage balance.<\/p>\n

A further 19 per cent will clear less than 50 per cent of the amount outstanding.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Pepper rate hike to heap more misery on distressed borrowersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The figures are worse for those whose loans are held by loan servicing firms than by banks. More than two-thirds of those at loan servicing firms will clear less than half of what they owe by the time they retire, the authors project, compared to just over a third of bank customers.<\/p>\n

In the 2024 sample used in the report, loan servicing firms\u2019 customers are older \u2013 56 on at the median \u2013 compared to 51 at banks and have been in arrears for longer with larger outstanding loan balances.<\/p>\n

\"\"Budget 2027: Does this giveaway budget have potential banana skins that might lie ahead for the Government?<\/p>\n

Customers of loan servicing firms are more likely to be on higher variable interest rates \u2013 a premium of about 1.4 percentage points in 2024, according to the report \u2013 and less likely to be meeting the terms of the restructured repayment arrangements, write Patrik Gor\u0161e, Thomas Joyce and Paul Lyons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to repay mortgage obligations by borrowers in long-term arrears who are now approaching or at retirement age remains a concern,\u201d the authors say. \u201cFinding sustainable restructures within the financial system for engaged borrowers in long-term mortgage arrears may not be possible. <\/p>\n

\u201cMany of those in long-term mortgage arrears today are now in their 50s or 60s, are mentally exhausted and need a permanent viable solution,\u201d said Stephen Curtis, chief executive of mortgage-to-rent specialist Irish Homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people have had mortgage arrears hanging over them for decades and, in turn, the worry that they could lose their home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curtis noted that central bank mortgage arrears data for the second quarter of this year showed that the number of accounts in arrears that are being brought before the courts had jumped by 6.6 per cent over the previous 12 months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One in two of those in mortgage arrears are unlikely to clear even half their outstanding loan balance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,4505,61,5232,60,16487],"class_list":["post-653935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-central-bank","tag-ie","tag-interest-rates","tag-ireland","tag-mortgages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}