Central Bank should not ignore ESRI - Housing crisis

IT is hardly a surprise that mortgage brokers and those working to combat homelessness would have taken issue with the strict and over-reaching mortgage lending rules introduced by the Central Bank last year.

Indeed, many did, pointing out that the requirement to save up to a 20% deposit on a home would be an impossible task for most first-time buyers.

In the past year, the situation for would-be home owners has worsened. New figures from the banks show the value of the average deposit has risen from €38,000 to an average of €51,000 for buyers in Dublin and from €24,000 to €32,000 in Cork. It has also risen proportionally elsewhere.