Labour and Sinn Féin are calling for a moratorium on house repossessions.

The two political parties tabled a motion in the Dáil last night which also calls for an expansion of the programme of social housing and new measures to deal with the problem of homelessness.

The parties claim that in the current economic climate more needs to be done for those on social housing waiting lists and for those who are on the verge of losing their homes, or have already lost them.

Donegal Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty said the situation is going to get worse.

However, yesterday it was revealed that a new examination of procedures for handing arrears and repossession of properties is actually supposed to show that repossession of a home is a last resort for financial institutions.

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The Financial Regulator's study found that lenders accept revised payment arrangements when a person is in financial difficulty and is willing to repay the mortgage.

The regulator says that mortgage lenders generally have fair and reasonable procedures in place to deal with arrears and repossessions.

The financial watchdog said that at the end of June 2008, 13,931 mortgage accounts were over three months in arrears.

This represents 1.44% of residential mortgages. In December 2006, a total of 11,252 accounts were in arrears, or 1.21% of mortgages.

Between January 2005 and June 2008, credit institutions repossessed 112 residential properties.

Other mortgage lenders repossessed 16 properties in that time. This is out of a total of almost one million mortgage accounts.

The reasons given for the arrears included martial or relationship breakdown, unemployment or illness, financial mismanagement and poor cash management.

The Consumer Director of the Financial Regulator, Mary O'Dea, urged people to contact their mortgage providers as soon as they become aware that they will experience difficulty in meeting their mortgage repayments.

(BMcC)