Seven years after the bank bailout and the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank, its widely expected that there will be a wave of repossessions this year.
The Central Bank itself expects that up to 50,000 people could find themselves homeless by the year’s end due to repossessions and rent hikes.
Groups helping people struggling to keep their homes are unequivocal about it: there is a great deal more pain and hardship ahead.
Michael Culloty from the Money, Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) said despite talk of recovery, the cases people have got dreaded for years are finally appearing before the courts.
“ There are a lot more cases before the courts and while things might be getting better for some people that recovery is not trickling down to everyone. We have to remember, most people don’t stop paying their mortgage to be feckless, they do it because their circumstances have changed. The trauma of being faced with such an uncertain future can be significant,” he said.
Over 8,000 people have already lost their homes this year and according to Byron Jenkins from The Hub – a not for profit helping people in mortgage arrears – the situation is reaching a crisis point.
“According to figures from the Central Bank nearly 50,000 people could face eviction this year. We’re smack bang in the middle of an eviction crises. These are family homes, sometimes going back generations. It’s getting worse and worse. We see 10 people a day, five days a week. We’re booked up for the next few weeks,” he said.
St Vincent de Paul spokesperson Jim Walsh said the society’s lines are also inundated with calls due to sudden rent hikes that a renter can’t absorb.
“We’re getting 5,000 calls for help a month and that’s just in the Dublin region. People are on fixed incomes so when there’s a rent hike and that unexpected bill comes, like a broken washing machine, they can’t manage.
So landlords putting up the rents means people have to stop paying other bills, like food or fuel. Children are suffering, it’s a cycle filled with difficult decisions,” he said.
One such person is Maura Kerr who is in her 60s, in remission for cancer, and who has been on the housing list in North County Dublin for seven years.
She suddenly found herself looking after her three grandchildren, aged 10-17, when her daughter “dropped dead on her way to work”. Her daughter was only 33.
“ Initially people told me I was mad, at my age, after rearing five of my own children but I never thought me and the boys could end up homeless. I was on the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) with Dublin City Council for four years, in private rental accommodation but the contract was only for four years and it ran out last February 25. I’m packed here since the New Year, everything in this home is mine everything is packed waiting to move, it’s a horrible feeling, but as long as there’s breath in my body those boys will not be taken into care,” she said.
“I’ll take any house, any size, anywhere as long as we can call it our home. It’s hard for the boys, if they hear me talking on the phone about the situation. The kids are worried if I don’t get a place they’ll be taken off me. My life is full of stress and anxiety. I’m not asking for any special treatment I don’t care what condition the property is in. I just want to be able to say ‘right boys we’re here now this is our home until I die’,” she said.
At the end of last year a total of 110,366 (14.5%) of all mortgage accounts were in arrears and last year 8,164 civil bills for an order of possession were lodged in the circuit courts.
Paul Murphy TD says, by allowing evictions, the Government is adding to Ireland’s burgeoning homeless crisis which stems from the rental crisis. Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath says that “the official stats are understating the number of family homes being lost”.
“We are looking at a wave of repossession throughout 2015. The banks are ramping up their enforcement activities and the 38,000 people in arrears of a year or more are in great danger of losing their homes. The official stats are understating the number of family homes being lost as often people are handing back the keys. All of this seems to be happening with the blessing of the Government,” he said.
Ciara O’Reilly: Donnycarney, Dublin
“My husband and I separated six years ago. When he left all of the mortgage repayments fell on me and I just couldn’t make them. You become so overwhelmed with the incoming information, the letters, the demands it’s an everyday struggle. Initially it wasn’t a huge pressure but then the letters and phone calls started flooding in so quickly. Eventually I hit rock bottom and ended up in Pieta House. When you’re dealing with all the bureaucracy nobody wants to sit down and talk to you. You start to feel more and more isolated. I’ve spent 25 years in the civil service working as a midwife in Holles Street.
“The mortgage on my house was taken out against my salary as a midwife and my husband’s income. Now I just can’t manage the mortgage and trying to keep enough food on the table to feed me and my son. I just wonder if people like me can struggle, what’s it like for others?
I’m a strong individual but this brought me to my breaking point. I went to my GP and he tried to put me on pills but I wouldn’t do it. I practice a lot of mindfulness and try to keep going but this is my son’s home, it’s my home, it’s my dogs’ home. I thought I’d grow old here. It’s the uncertainty of what’s ahead for us that’s the killer. People sort of seem to think ‘right you overspent take the hit’ but this could happen to anyone. It just takes one or two things to tip you over the edge. Being dragged through the courts is dehumanising. The last time I was in court I told the judge there’s a human side to all these stories. I just think it’s something people forget. I didn’t know what an anxiety attack was until this happened to me. It’s like hyenas coming after you when you’re weak and alone”
Jeanette Campbell: Delvin, Westmeath
“It affects everyone from every walk of life. I’ve been self-employed my whole life. I used to help foreign businesses set up in Ireland but I’m disabled after an accident so I can’t work. People say you can stay with us but I’ve been a homeowner since I was 20, I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I wake up in sweats after horrific nightmares. In my opinion it’s the women of the country, that seems to be bearing the brunt of this.
I have a 15-year-old daughter, she’s in an exam year and is worried sick about the situation and about me. No 15-year-old child should be worried about mortgages. I saw a woman on the Late Late Show saying she’d hate to think of someone “getting away” without paying their mortgage. I’d like to ask her, has she ever fed her children banana sandwiches for dinner pretending it’s a treat? In this situation your pride is the first thing to go. There’s weeks we just can’t buy shopping. I was always independent, I moved to the States at 18, I always wanted my kids to have a better life than I did. But I have a chronic spinal condition where nerves get trapped between the bones. So, I’m now disabled.
Christmas was always so special to me, it was about being in your home with your family. But it stopped two years ago when I stopped putting up a Christmas tree. Then you see the things on Facebook about people being thrown out of their homes and it’s terrifying.
“All it takes is to break your leg, or for a partner to leave, or even an unplanned pregnancy to end up where I am. It could happen to anyone”.
Norma Costelloe
Norma Costelloe
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