6,000 more households fall into arrears

A further 6,000 households found themselves struggling to pay their mortgages between July and September as the number in arrears over three months jumped to 86,000.

Figures released by the Central Bank show the rate of primary homes falling 90 days behind has slowed, with the number of households falling behind increasing by 0.7% to 86,146.

The banks have put payment plans in place, with a range of measures from interest-only, to splitting the mortgages into separate tranches to be paid off during different periods for more than 81,000 home owners. Despite these efforts, nearly 39,000 of restructured mortgages remain in arrears, down more than 3,500 on the previous three months.