Major lenders plan to make significant funds available for first time buyers to meet ever increasing demand

Despite the economic doom and gloom, there seems to be a willingness from Irish banks, in particular Allied Irish Bank (AIB) and Bank of Ireland (BOI), to increase mortgage lending in order to fill vacant houses across the country, according to mortgage brokers. As the country’s two big ‘pillar’ banks, AIB and BOI are beginning to push mortgage lending into the struggling mortgage market with the aim of improving the economy’s health.

A Sunday Business Post report shows that these banks are aiming to give out more mortgage loans to first time buyers this year than in 2011. Indeed, BOI affirmed its commitment to further grow the bank’s 50% mortgage market share by making funds of €1.5 billion available for the lending purposes. And it’s not just the ‘big players’ who are noticing a pick up in demand for loans. A smaller lender recently reported their two busiest months since the nation’s property market spectacularly collapsed in 2007.