Irish households likely to pay €80 more per month as ECB plans to raise mortgage rates

Up to 740,000 Irish households could pay an average of €960 more per year if the European Central Bank raises interest rates by half of a point

Already hard-pressed Irish families could end up paying an average of €2,000 extra per year to repay their mortgages if the ECB raises rates by a full percentage point. Stock picture

A momentous gathering of the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday will start the countdown for rate hikes that will likely add €80 a month to the mortgage repayments for up to 740,000 Irish households.

At its meeting in Frankfurt, the ECB is expected to roll back much of its huge bond-buying support programme and pave the way for the first of two summer rate hikes  — in July and September — in moves that will likely add significantly to the costs of Irish borrowers.