A mother of five “sports-mad” boys said that she does not know how she will tell them that they are going to lose their home.

The value of impaired loans at EBS subsidiary Haven Mortgages last year increased by €19m to €238.7m as the firm’s number of repossessions increased fivefold.

A young couple with a new baby and three other children said yesterday they had a lender’s application to repossess their rural home “sprung upon them”.

The level of residential loans impaired at EBS subsidiary, Haven Mortgages Ltd increased last year by €6m to €214.5m or 19.3% of the firm’s loan book, new figures show.