merrion street

Housing Minister Jan O'Sullivan today launched the 'Mortgage to Rent' Scheme. The scheme is specifically targeted at those low income families whose mortgage situation is unsustainable and where there is little or no prospect of a significant change in circumstances in the foreseeable future. It ensures that the family remains in the home, paying rent, while ownership is transferred to an approved housing body.

The mortgage to rent scheme is an option for families who:

•  Have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable
• Are eligible for social housing
• Agree to the voluntary repossession of the property
• Do not have significant positive equity

The Minister said:

The main aim of the scheme is to give security and certainty to families.  It removes the threat of repossession and the consequent upheaval that entails.  Families can continue to live in their family home with security of tenure and certainty over the payments they must meet.

Mortgage to rent is very much a final option for low-income families facing severe mortgage difficulty.  It is just one element of the range of solutions that the Government has been working on.  It offers a viable, stable future for families on low incomes overwhelmed by mortgage debt and is a welcome development.