Mortgage arrears ‘a threat to economy’

Mortgage arrears are not just problems for homeowners struggling to make repayments but pose a threat to the wider economy, a senior figure in the Central Bank has warned.

Sharon Donnery, deputy governor, Central Banking made the comments as the Central Bank published an article she co-authored on the issue of resolving non-performing loans (NPL), which warned that some 14,000 households are at risk of losing their property.

It revealed that 28,946 primary dwelling house loans were in arrears of over two years as of last December — and these account for 60% of all mortgage cases in arrears for more than 90 days.