Tipperary financial advisor says banks will be reassessing mortgage approvals because of pandemic

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Those applying for a mortgage, or who’ve recently been mortgage approved, are being urged to consider their circumstances now.

That’s the message from Clonmel-based financial advisor, Frances O’Hanlon of FOH.

She says banks are now re-examining some applications and in many instances will likely refuse those whose employers have avialed of the wage subsidy scheme.

Speaking on Tipp Today, Frances said people should really look at their own situations:

“You know, sometimes people need to be careful what they wish for. If it’s a thing that it’s really just not the right fit for you at the moment because of concerns about your future employment, maybe you shouldn’t do it.

“But let’s assume that a couple are approved and the supplent is on their payslip – if the bank see that supplement, they won’t approve or allow the mortgage to proceed until they see a payslip where the supplement is gone.”

Frances says now is the time to be extra cautious – if you’re not sure of your own future income, the bank won’t be either:

“There’s different cicumstances they’ll look at. It would maybe depend on the employer and the company they’re working for. But, as a rule of thumb, they want to see the supplement gone.

“Employers availed of that supplement to keep people employed. Otherwise we’re in to COVID-19 unemployment talk.

“I would say that’s fair. I would prefer to be dealing with someone who has a COVID-19 supplement and that we’re waiting for the next payslip for it to be cleared, rather than somebody whose employment was broken.”