This week has seen a lot of talk about mortgages and debt relief, but very little concrete information I'm afraid. The Government and Central bank has ruled out widespread debt write offs.
You might remember back during the election campaign, Fine Gael promised a large increase in the mortgage interest relief for people who bought their first home between 2004 and 2008? Well it seems that that promise was for election purposes only. We are to wait until the end of the month to hear the report of a group of experts who will recommend what steps should be taken to help those in arrears/'the negative equity generation'.
The stories doing the rounds include; Banks taking a equity stake in your home in exchange for a reduction in your mortgage, mortgages being written off and renting your house from the Government and the introduction of intergenerational mortgages.
The Irish Independant have reported that some lending institutions are writing off debts or allowing people to settle debts for less than what is outstanding. This is being denied by the relevant institutions who very understandably want to avoid the potential for individual customers to take advantage of the situation, this is also known as 'Moral Hazard'.
KBC has increased its standard variable mortgage rate by 0.25% to 4.45%.
Bord Gais has got the approval for its 22% increase in Gas prices from the regulator, the ESB reacted by confirming it would do the exact same thing for its customers.
The number out of work increased by 1600 over the last month, a trend we had hoped that arrested itself some time ago.
The Government tax take figures have shown that they are collecting more then they had budgeted for, which is good news. The amount of VAT collected remains below target which just shows the lack of consumer sentiment out there.
FS
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