PII welcomes review of mortgage rules for new homebuyers but missed opportunity to reform system

Commenting on the publication of the Mortgage Measures Framework review, Chairperson of Property Industry Ireland (PII), Ivan Gaine said: “PII broadly welcomes the changes announced today by the Central Bank of Ireland increasing the loan-to-income limit from 3.5 to 4 times income for first time buyers and reduction of the deposit percentage for second-time buyers.

“However, we need to plan for greater liquidity generally in order to service Ireland’s housing requirement. We need a substantial increase in the volumes of mortgages as much as the values of them. A better measure would have been the introduction of a Debt Service to Income approach.”