‘Law will not lead to raft of repossessions’

Laws allowing banks to seize the homes of distressed borrowers will not lead to “widescale repossessions by banks”, the justice minister insisted.

Alan Shatter said his department and the Attorney General were working to close a legal loophole preventing banks from seizing homes, as agreed with the bailout troika.

Although 65,700 mortgages are more than six months in arrears, repossession orders were given on just 97 houses in the three months to June after the courts found existing legislation applied only to mortgages granted after 2009.