Ireland’s central bank has relaxed rules for first-time buyers despite rising mortgage costs and concerns that it will only lead to higher prices and aggravate the country’s housing crisis.
From January, first-time buyers will be able to borrow up to four times their gross income, up from 3.5 times under the current rules.
The move, which follows a year-long review, was a “reasonable” recalibration of measures that had been in place since 2015, central bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf said. Those measures were a response to a credit-driven property bubble that burst in 2008 and crashed the economy.
