Almost two thirds of the housing loans owed to Westmeath County Council are in arrears, giving it one of the highest rates of debt in the country when it comes to housing loan repayments.
In figures revealed this week, Westmeath County Council was cited as one of the councils with the highest rate of debts owed to them from housing loans. Some 62 per cent of housing loans owed to Westmeath County Council are more than a month in arrears.
Housing loans given by councils include lendings under the shared ownership, tenant purchase, and affordable housing schemes.
The figures, obtained by RTE News, reveal that county and town councils across the country are owed more than €25 million from people behind in their payments.
In stark contrast to the high level of arrears in Westmeath, at the opposite end of the scale is Fingal County Council in Dublin which has the lowest rate of arrears at just 10 per cent.
Earlier this week, a Government audit of Westmeath’s finances expressed concern at the increase in housing loan arrears in the county during recent years. Over a two-year period, housing loan arrears increased by 91 per cent, from €944,500 in January 2008 to over €1.8 million in December 2009.
According to the audit, carried out by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, some housing loans were being issued to applicants who did not meet the strict income criteria.
“The collection of these loan arrears is a matter of serious concern for the council,” stated the report.
County manager Dan McLoughlin said he was “particularly concerned about loan arrears”, and that the council was focusing resources in terms of staff and the development of systems to better manage the issue.
Senior executive officer with Westmeath’s housing section Declan Leonard said this week that over the past few years the council has been housing approximately 300 families per year, with the emphasis now shifting more towards leasing arrangements or the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS ).
“We were building an average of 120 or 130 houses per year, but this year we only provided 18 to 20 houses directly,” he told councillors at Monday’s county council meeting.
Typically, councils are known as a ‘last resort’ lender, with clients approaching them only after they have been refused a mortgage by two financial institutions.
“The number of applicants is quite low, and the number who are successful is lower again,” said Mr Leonard.
