Independent Galway Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has written to Galway County Council asking them to revise Enurement clauses for families facing repossession and in difficulties with Banks.
‘I have sight of a letter from the Bank telling a Conamara-based family that their home will be repossessed in November unless the family can come up with the outstanding monies.
Ironically, the family have a local buyer for the house but because the buyer didn’t grow up in the area, under current restrictive rules, he doesn’t qualify to take over the Enurement clause and thus cannot purchase the house!
It would greatly benefit this family if they could sell the house themselves. There is approximately 2.5 years left in the Enurement clause.
I really believe that in extenuating circumstances such as these that the Council should lift the Enurement clause or at the very least expand the criteria regarding broader categories of people who can purchase and take over existing enurement clauses. The prospective buyer in question in this case is living locally for ten years. This is an example of a person who should be allowed to qualify.
Ironically, according to the family in difficulty, the Bank claims that if they foreclose on the property that the Council will have to lift the Enurement clause for them. This has yet to be substantiated.
Nobody could have ever foreseen the extent of the housing bust and the ensuing financial collapse that was visited upon families. I believe it is time that the Council showed compassion and relaxed their rules, given the changed circumstances and enormous debt burdens that some families find themselves under.
In view of the personal impact and stress arising, it would be helpful if Galway County Councillors tabled this as a motion for an early Council meeting. I strongly encourage them to do so.
