Affordable house buyers left waiting for rate cut

THOUSANDS of homeowners on affordable housing mortgages have yet to benefit from a cut in interest rates last month.

The European Central Bank (ECB) lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on May 7, but the Housing Finance Agency (HFA), the State-owned company that lends money to local authorities, has not yet passed on the cut.

The Government says it could be “a number of weeks” before the agency makes a decision, meaning thousands of mortgage holders face an anxious wait to see if their mortgage bill will be reduced.