Thousands of Irish families face eviction from their homes as the financial crisis worsens according to a leading Housing Charity.

Aoife Walsh of the Respond! Housing Association has warned the incoming government that as many as 100,000 homeowners are really struggling to pay their mortgages.

Respond! now fears mass repossessions – a modern word for evictions – as lenders respond to the growing crisis.

The Housing Association has also stated that of the 100,000 homeowners struggling with their repayments, 40,000 are in arrears of 90 days or more.

And 28,000 households haven’t been able to meet their mortgage payments for more than 180 days.
“The number of families struggling on a monthly basis is only set to increase during 2011 as incomes continue to fall and interest rates increase,” said Walsh.

“The only state assistance for these homeowners is mortgage interest supplement but only 18,000 are accessing it currently, a fraction of the real number in difficulty.

“The number in arrears has increased and the number of homes being repossessed continues to rise.

“A lot of lip service was paid to the plight of homeowners in 2010 but very little action. Unless more is done to assist people, we could witness large scale repossessions in 2011 and 2012.”