Family homes to be seized from October

Legal proceedings to take repossession of the family home could start as soon as Oct 1 under a new code of conduct on mortgage arrears, being released by the Central Bank today.

The move will have huge implications for the 95,554 mortgage holders in arrears over 90 days and a further 46,564 in arrears under 90 days.

Under the new code, which comes into effect on Jul 1, if a bank can prove it has offered a sustainable payment arrangement to a customer in mortgage arrears but the new terms have not been met, or if the customer has rejected the offer, then the bank just has to issue notification it intends to start legal proceedings in three months to take repossession.