Fears for mortgage holders as banks fail to pass rate cuts

There are fears that more people will fall into mortgage arrears, because many banks will not pass on rate cuts.

Yesterday, the European Central Bank cut its key rates by 0.25% which is automatically passed on to tracker mortgage holders.

However, those on variable rate mortgages rely on banks to pass the rate cut onto them and so far Ulster Bank is the only one to confirm it will do so, while AIB has announced that it will not.

Frank Conway of the Irish Financial Review has said the rate cut is worth around €45 a month to the average mortgage holder.

He said this could be "the difference between staying afloat or slipping into arrears".