Too many mortgage arrears deals fail, say experts

Leading mortgage experts have raised new questions over whether banks are offering the right of sort of deals for homeowners in distress almost a decade on from the onset of the financial crisis.

Central Bank figures published yesterday showed that long-term arrears had fallen at the end of 2016, but, unexpectedly, the number of borrowers falling into early arrears had risen.

Senior Counsel Ross Maguire, founder of the advocacy group New Beginning, said though small the rise in the number of accounts falling into arrears in the first 90 days showed supposedly robust restructured mortgages were failing at the first hurdle.