Rebuilding the housing market

Despite pre-election promises to tackle the mortgage crisis, nothing concrete has been done. But Nama’s latest offering may offer hope to some of those struggling, writes Claire O’Sullivan

OVER the past 15 months, various schemes have been unleashed to tackle the problem of arrears and ignite the housing market.

The brainchildren of everyone from the banks, the Government and Nama, they’re trumpeted as solutions to the ongoing crisis in the housing market: People’s fear of buying a first home in case prices further tumble, people’s inability to trade up due to negative equity, and then the ongoing nightmare of mortgage arrears.