FOREIGN-OWNED banks not under the control of the National Assets Management Agency are considering returning some ghost estates into green field sites, the chief executive of Nama has revealed.

Brendan McDonagh was speaking in Limerick yesterday to the Mid West Society of the Chartered Accountants of Ireland.

He said Nama currently has dealings with 28 of the 230 “category four” ghosts estates. These estates are included in this category where there is no construction activity on the site.

“[Non-Nama banks] are looking at a situation where it might be more economical for them to take out the foundations and actually turn it back into a green field area,” he said.

He also warned of a major oversupply of houses and said developments in certain parts of the State should never have been given planning approval.

In his address, Mr McDonagh said Nama’s impact on the property market over the next year or two would be felt through the agency’s engagement with debtors and through the receivership process.

He said Nama has approved the sale of an estimated €3.5 billion in property assets since March 2010, much of it controlled by Irish-based debtors with properties in the UK.

“At this stage, we have acquired the property loans of about 850 debtors which aggregate to a nominal €72.3 billion. The top 180 largest debtors owe a total of the astonishing amount of €62 billion, and these will be directly managed by Nama staff,” he added.

Mr McDonagh also said he might consider taking a further pay cut.