By the end of January there were 58,449 mortgages in arrears of 90 days or more that were still to be restructured, a drop of 777 compared to the end of December last, according to latest Deptartment of Finance figures.
Engagement between consumers and lenders has led to 53,969 permanent mortgage restructures, an increase of 2,781 accounts on Q4 2013 and 8,792 accounts since the end of Q3 2013.
The number of mortgage accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days has fallen from 81,156 to 79,427, a drop of 1,729 accounts when compared to the end of September.
Total mortgage accounts in arrears (all arrears 1 day past due) have increased since Q4 2013 by 710 accounts. This small increase may be attributed to both seasonal factors and the introduction of new payment processing following the lender's implementation of SEPA, the Department said.
Total temporary restructures continue to fall, indicating a move towards a greater utilisation of total permanent restructures which have increased this month by 2,781 accounts.
There has been significant rise in the number of split mortgages from 2,521 when this data series began in August to 7,131 by the end of January, the figures show.
The buy-to-let (BTL) sector has seen very little progress in arrears restructuring.
The number of all BTL mortgage accounts in arrears at the end of January is 34,139 accounts, compared to 34,192 at the end of Q3 and 33,831 at the end of Q4 2013.
Figures show that the number in arrears of greater than 90 days increased by 216 accounts since the end of December.
Engagement between consumers and lenders has led to 10,532 permanent restructures, an increase of 384 accounts on the end of December.
In this series permanent restructures for those accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days increased by 184 accounts when compared to the end of December.
The 6 main lenders have reported that they have 3,721 rent receivers in place, an increase of 542 on the end of December.
