Long term mortgage arrears "a time bomb"

The rising level of long-term mortgage arrears was labelled a "time bomb" yesterday, while new figures from the Central Bank also signalled an increase in the rate of possible house repossessions.

The quarterly report issued by the Central Bank on mortgage arrears, repossessions, and restructures on family homes showed that while the number of mortgage accounts for principal dwelling houses in arrears fell for the third consecutive quarter, the number of accounts in arrears of over 720 days increased by 5.1%.

That means 35,314 mortgage accounts are in arrears by some two years or more, resulting in outstanding balances of €7.4bn.