Fianna Fáil to challenge mortgage charges

Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath says he will table a new mortgages bill this evening to rein in what he describes as the still “excessive” standard variable home loan rates being charged by lenders.

The bill envisages giving the Central Bank powers to intervene in the mortgage market if it identifies “a market failure” though it does not explicitly set a ceiling on the interest rate than any lender should charge.

AIB and KBC Bank last week cut their home loan rates, but a senior Fianna Fáil spokesman said that many standard variable rates being charged across the Irish market were still too high and exceeded the rates charged by lenders across the eurozone.