FERMANAGH residents earning a wage in the south will struggle to get a mortgage in the north when a new EU Directive is introduced next year.

Enniskillen financial advisor, Ann Richmond, says the new ‘Mortgage Credit Directive’ will also create issues for Euro earners who wish to remortgage for a better rate.

The new regulations mean that if the exchange rate between the two currencies fluctuates by 20 per cent or more, lenders will be forced to offer borrowers the option of switching the mortgage to the same currency as their earnings or country of residence.

But this could be costly for lenders and borrowers alike.

And as a result, lenders may stop offering foreign currency loans altogether.

“Nationwide and Progressive have already pulled out of Euro income and it’s believed that the rest of the banks will follow,” warned Ann.

“This EU Directive is going to be applied next April. So if you earn a Euro currency you can only get a mortgage in that currency.” The Money Matters financial advisor says Fermanagh stands to be hugely affected by the regulations as a border region.

She add however, that to date, very few people know about the impending EU Directive.

“If you earn euros at Quinn’s in the south, you won’t be able to have a mortgage in the north,” she explained, “It is going to affect a huge amount of people here and other border areas such as Strabane.

“Overall euro income accounts for about 20 to 30 per cent of our business.

“This is probably around the same for the banks and other financial advisers.

“This will also be an issue for Euro earners who wish to remortgage for a better rate. From next April they won’t be able to do this and are therefore at the mercy of their existing bank and potentially could end up on Standard Variable rate for the rest of their mortgage term which is 4.75 per cent at present.

“When rates start to rise this will have a huge impact on their mortgage payment.

“But while this stands to affect so many here, nobody seems to be talking about it.

“There is no campaign to stop it and it is not being raised by the people who should be raising it.

“It is so important that this issue is highlighted so that people are aware that this is going to happen.

“We feel that this, coupled with banks downvaluing properties on shared lanes to as little as zero, which is again very common in Fermanagh, is making it increasingly difficult for locals to purchase their first home or indeed remortgage their existing home.”