Debts of those taking up the scheme will be written off, once they surrender their homes to iCare. People who get on to the scheme will have to qualify for social housing.
But they will get an opportunity to buy back the homes in the future if their personal circumstances improve, the Irish Independent has learned.

This is a kick in the teeth for responsible mortgage holder and the taxpayer generally

What about responsible borrowers who have made huge sacrifices to keep up with their mortgages? They have cancelled their health insurance and their holidays. They have taken up a second job or worked overtime. They may have got rid of their car. They may have borrowed money from their parents. And they may well still be in negative equity in a house which they would have expected to trade up from some years ago. What is their reward? – a mortgage rate which is twice the rate being charged elsewhere in the eurozone.

What about people who haven’t paid their mortgages? In any other country, their home would have been repossessed and sold on to someone able to pay the mortgage. They would join the social housing list and get allocated accommodation based on their needs and their place in the queue.

But in Ireland, the bank is prevented from repossessing the house. Now instead of joining the social housing list, they skip the 100,000 queue and not only get a house, but get the house of their choice in the location of their choice.

We the taxpayer will pay their rent for them. (These houses will be leased back to the local authority who will pay iCare. If the tenants don’t bother paying their rent, as 30% of council tenants don’t, then tough on the council/taxpayer – iCare will still get their money.)

And to add insult to injury, in 10 years or so, they will be able to buy back the property at a 40% discount to the market value.

And to add insult to injury, in 10 years or so, they will be able to buy back the property at a 40% discount to the market value.

I can't find a source for this quote. Where did you see it?

Apologies, I mixed up the Indo report with his comments in AAM (will edit my post above to make that clear)
https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/n ... ib.205228/

Thanks.

I assume Brendan has pulled the 40% figure out of his hole based on predictions of future price rises? From what I recall he doesn't have an amazing track record.

Putting aside the fairness aspect, the problem generally with these bulk schemes is unless they're designed to be ridiculously generous, they tend to be targetted at the average of a cohort, so the winners will take it and the losers won't. So you then end up with a smaller bunch of even more hard cases.

Why doesn't David Hall just buy up all of the non-performing mortgages? Then it's his problem to sort them all out.

If a customer is eligible for, and completes, the Mortgage to Rent process, then:
Ownership of the customer’s home transfers to iCare Housing
The customer becomes a long-term tenant of iCare Housing
Any remaining residual mortgage debt, following property sale, is fully written off
The customer has the option to buy back their home, at any time, at the price that iCare Housing paid for the property including any discounts negotiated between iCare Housing and the Bank.

I get that David Hall is doing this all for charity...