Sir, – Surely, the most equitable way for mortgages to be approved is on the basis of affordability not some random deposit figure (Letters, November 25th). For example, is it okay if someone borrows the 20 per cent deposit as a personal loan or gets it from a friend. Is it equitable if their parents can just give them the deposit? Does that make them more financially responsible than someone who lives within their means and is applying for a mortgage within their salary range but can’t afford to save a 20 per cent deposit, while meeting all the other costs of modern life in Ireland?
Isn’t the better way to cool down the housing market, not by stamping out demand with artificial deposit ranges from a bygone era that makes no sense in the current market, but to approve loans on a case-by-case basis according to what the customer can afford.
Perhaps Prof Drudy should have a chat with his children or grandchildren and compare and contrast their financial reality now with his financial reality when he was their age. Things have changed. It’s long since time that the rules for mortgage lending should be set by the generation who are actually applying for and paying mortgages. – Yours, etc,
DESMOND FITZGERALD,
Canary Wharf,
London.