Sir, – The recent contribution by Brendan Burgess regarding Sinn Féin’s proposal to support households with rising mortgage costs merits a response (“Why Sinn Féin’s plan to give tax relief to mortgage holders is not a good idea”, Business, Opinion, June 25th).
Housing costs are the biggest expense for many households.
That is why for several years Sinn Féin has called for a refundable tax credit equivalent to one month’s rent for renters, offering greater support than the botched €500 credit currently being rolled out with limited uptake.
Last year a new front opened in the cost of living crisis, with the ECB increasing its interest rate eight times in less than a year.
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The Central Bank estimated that 20 per cent of households would see their annual mortgage costs rise by more than €4,800. This was before the further interest rate increases in May and June.
We have proposed is a temporary and targeted measure that would support households with a portion of the increased mortgage costs they are facing.
It would provide relief on 30 per cent of the increased interest costs compared to the interest rate households were charged in July of last year. This measure would support households from the impact of this income shock.
Our proposal has appropriate guardrails in place – available only on the primary dwelling home and capped at a maximum benefit of €1,500 per household and excluding non-principal private residences.
It would include newly issued fixed mortgages, providing some relief to first-time buyers.
It would provide crucial relief to the 80,000 households that have mortgage loans held by vulture funds, many of them now facing interest rates as high as 8 per cent.
On this issue there are clear differences between the position of Sinn Féin and the views of the author, who in 2018 said he would like to see 10,000 repossessions and that vulture funds were a necessary part of the current market.
I disagree.
Enabling these homeowners to return to the mainstream mortgage market must be a priority, together with providing temporary and targeted mortgage interest relief to support struggling households. – Yours, etc,
PEARSE DOHERTY TD,
Sinn Féin
Finance Spokesperson,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2.