Help for borrowers but too little too late, say critics

THE country’s main mortgage providers have agreed to a system of deferring interest payments for troubled borrowers, a move that fell short of a hoped-for debt forgiveness scheme or a temporary ‘parking’ of loans.

The news comes as new figures show an estimated 70,000 mortgage holders are now in serious arrears or have been forced to reschedule loans.

Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield, a member of the Government-appointed group which examined the issue, admitted the numbers of people with mounting mortgage debt would “continue to get worse”.