Approximately one in three Irish people believe they’ll still be repaying a mortgage come retirement age, according to a new report.
Over a third of those surveyed also anticipate their mortgage payments will still be ‘significant’ at this stage in their life.
The percentage of those who expect to still have a mortgage by the time they retire skyrockets to 54 per cent among people aged 25-34.
The report, which is based on a survey commissioned by insurance broker Gallagher in Ireland, also shows that people living in Dublin are least likely to believe they’ll own their home outright aged 65, with just over half holding this view.
Those residing in the capital are the highest rate of those who believe they’ll have a ‘significant’ mortgage in retirement, 13 per cent as opposed to the the national average of nine.
Jonathan Roche-Kelly, director of financial services for Gallagher in Ireland, spoke of the ‘worrying’ mindset among prospective homeowners.
‘This again could be due to today’s record house prices as well as the trend of people buying homes later in life,’ he added.
Earlier this month, Fianna Fáil TDs were told by Taoiseach Micheál Martin to brace themselves for ‘unpopular decisions’ in trying to solve the housing crisis.
Mr Martin delivered the message at a private meeting of his parliamentary party just days before he gave media interviews indicating that Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) could be gone by the end of this year.
Mr Martin has indicated that the RPZs – which cap rents in certain areas – could be reviewed and replaced in a bid to boost the institutional investment required to build more homes.
Several Fianna Fáil TDs and senators who spoke to the Irish Daily Mail said they were left with the clear impression there was a significant problem around financing housing to the scale needed to solve the crisis.
‘It’s clear that there is a problem around institutional investment and it’s also clear that Micheál is looking to bluntly address that,’ one party source said. Mr Martin said on Monday he was ‘surprised’ at the reaction to his comments.
‘I never used the phrase “end” or “abolition”, for that matter… What we did say [was] we would examine the Housing Commission report and the section on the rental market,’ he said.