Bank loans ‘best’ for homeless charities

Two of the country’s leading homeless organisations have revealed it is cheaper for them to borrow from commercial banks than to apply for loans through the Government’s Housing Finance Agency.

Focus Ireland and the Peter McVerry Trust hit back yesterday at Labour TD Joanna Tuffy who claimed the organisations were not ‘stepping up to the mark’ to build social housing.

The Dublin Mid-West TD asserted up to €500 million in funding for social housing made available by the Housing Finance Agency was left unclaimed.