Help at Hand for Unsustainable Mortgages
Stephen Curtis, CEO, Irish Homes · In conversation with John Daly · Irish Examiner, 25 September 2026
Irish Homes operates across all 31 local authority areas in Ireland, and the Mortgage to Rent scheme has now passed 3,000 completed cases nationally. In the Irish Examiner's "My Job" column, our CEO Stephen Curtis explains why negative equity is still driving mortgage arrears, and why rising house prices could close the door on the scheme for some households.
The scheme caps both the value of the home (€265,000 to €515,000, depending on the county) and the positive equity allowed (€40,000 or €50,000).
Key Figures
- Mortgage to Rent has passed 3,000 completed cases nationally
- 27% average negative equity across 600+ cases analysed
- €325,968 average outstanding mortgage debt
- €256,299 average open market value of the homes
- 41% of cases were single parent families
- 7 in 10 homeowners were in their 50s or 60s
- €56,432 spent on average refurbishing each home
Stephen Curtis
"Do not wait until your circumstances reach a crisis point. If your mortgage is unsustainable, seek an assessment now and establish whether you qualify."
"If their home becomes too valuable or builds up equity beyond the scheme's limits, an option available today may no longer be available later. So, waiting to avail of an MTR solution can carry a real risk."
"People should not assume that they earn too much, are too old, or have struggled for too long to explore their options."
The Article
As published in the Irish Examiner, 25 September 2026, page 18.
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