Banks and state were let off the hook, says mother

CAROLINE LENNON-NALLY, a separated mother of one, didn’t find much hope in the Keane report. The authors, she said, are laying the blame with homeowner and letting the banks and state off the hook.

“As a public sector worker, I’m very used to working with bureaucracies and so I know the devil is in the detail. But I don’t see the banks taking any responsibility or the state, headed by the Government and Bertie Ahern at the time, who was urging us to get on the housing ladder. Yes, we were a bit naive but all we did was listen to the professionals and the Government who told us to buy and constantly told us there would be a soft landing.”

Caroline bought a four bedroomed detached house in Carlow at the height of the boom. She paid €385,000 for it but her bill came to €412,000 by the time she had paid stamp duty and legal fees.

She now has a mortgage of €320,000 — meaning she paid a sizeable deposit. She had been paying out about €1,470 in repayments since 2007.

Last winter, she realised that with public sector pay cuts, she could only pay €1,000 a month. However, the bank did not accept this, she pointed out she was in negative equity, had spent her savings on her deposit for her home and that other houses in her estate were being rented for €800 per month.

“Nobody expected blanket debt forgiveness but in the same way, I am objecting to their failure to help those in arrears and in substantial negative equity. The state has a duty of care to us all, as do the banks, and they have not taken this into account. I have no intention of renting my house off the state. I just want to pay what I can afford and at the end of it, have the deeds to a house that I have put huge amounts of money into.”