Repossessions could top 1,000 by end of 2016

Special courts in Galway are being swamped with home repossessions – more than 400 lodged so far this year – and it has been warned there will be a ‘tsunami’ of cases locally in the coming months.

Experts believe lenders are now moving to repossess homes in Galway because of rising house values, and are targeting family homes as well as investment properties.

And one TD claims that over the next 18 months, more than 1,000 families in Galway could find themselves ‘out on the street’.

Official figures show there are currently 421 repossession cases before Galway Circuit Court, while nine orders for repossessions were granted in 2014.

It’s understood all of the orders last year were for investment properties – one case had arrears of €82,000, while another had arrears of €15,000.

At the moment, the County Registrar holds a special Court every second month (or more frequently when required) to deal with repossessions, or when there is a bona fide defence, a case is heard by a judge.

But fears have been voiced that the applications for repossessions in Galway are set to rocket in the coming months.

Leading financial consultant David McCarthy of McCarthy & Associates in Galway told the Connacht Tribune: “The banks see this is as a good time for them to move, because equity is building up in properties. No doubt they’re looking at the recovering property market.”

Fianna Fáil TD for Galway East, Colm Keaveney said: “This is only the tip of the iceberg. Banks are trying to repair their balance sheets, and equity is increase in properties in Galway now. This is their plan to get rid of their bad debts.

“We’ve gone past investment properties being taken and are getting down to family homes now. I have seen an increase in the numbers of families in distress here in Tuam who are unable to afford to rent and are left languishing on the queue for social housing.

“Only last week, I met with a married man with two children whose family is having to share a home with his parents in law and their adult child – five adults and two children living in a three bedroom house. Rent is now beyond their affordability and there is no social housing available.

“Over the course of the last few months, there has been an upsurge in the number of home repossessions by the banks. This is in part a result of the rise in property values taking many properties out of negative equity.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.