Ballymena faces debt crisis says CAB

LEVELS of debt in Ballymena are among the highest in the province, it has been revealed.

Ballymena Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) assisted clients with a total debt of £371,512 in January alone.

Last year, they dealt with a debt tally of £1,995,316 and assisted with 17 bankruptcies and eight Debt Relief Orders.

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CAB Manager, Tony Adams says the situation is such that the Ballymena Bureau could do with a team of advisers devoted solely to handling debt related problems.

He said: “Ballymena CAB have seen a marked increase in clients presenting with debt issues. Northern Ireland is very vulnerable as we have a high rate of mortgage debt. We have the highest amount of mortgages with payments problems than any other region in UK.

“We in Ballymena are seeing clients struggling to make payments to their lenders and many are on interest-only mortgages. These are not feckless people caught up in the property frenzy. They are the people hit hard by the recession. Many are now claiming benefits after years of employment, people who have exhausted their savings. “Look around our main shopping streets to see long established businesses closing. Employers are experiencing great challenges to. In tandem with reduced employment opportunities comes a raft of changes to our benefit system that will reduce income to individuals and families,” said Mr Adams who urged anyone experiencing debt to contact the CAB or other agencies specialising in free Debt Advice.

The dire debt situation faced by a growing number of residents in the borough was made clear to councillors at a recent community development sub-committee meeting, prompting elected representatives to seek more support for locals in serious financial strife.

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Tabling a report on ‘Domestic Debt and Repossession of Properties’ in the borough, Council’s Economy and Community Development Manager, Mrs U. O’Loughlin, said that according to NI Citizens’ Advice Bureau, debt levels in Ballymena were higher than in Belfast, with individuals presenting with debts ranging from £60,000 to £100,000.

Comparative figures for elsewhere in Northern Ireland were, she said, in the region of £12,000-£15,000.

And, Mrs O’Loughlin said she had it confirmed by Ballymena CAB that the amount of debt handled by them had more than doubled in 2011.

In most of those cases, individuals had attained a range of debts from multiple sources, including credit cards, store cards and/or secured lending, councillors heard.

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Mrs O’Loughlin also pointed out that Advice NI similarly offered money/debt advice and its service in Ballymena had assisted 250 people deal with nearly £4.5million worth of debt since its inception in January 2010.

The Council officer highlighted the various means of redressing debts, such as bankruptcy, individual and voluntary agreement, debt management, debt consolidation and debt relief orders.

With regard to the latter, she said, it had been confirmed by Ballymena CAB that the borough had the second highest rate of Debt Relief Orders in Northern Ireland, after Londonderry.

Responding, councillors agreed the proposal of Alderman PJ McAvoy, that Council directly approaches DETI to fund more Money Advice posts for the Ballymena area and that correspondence be sent to the appropriate Minister suggesting that Government purchase properties facing repossession and allow people to remain in their homes as ‘tenants’ who would pay an affordable income to Government.

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Councillors were also agreed that they play a key role, along with local charities such as St Vincent de Paul and Christians Against Poverty, in attempting to improve the current domestic debt situation by signposting local people to financial help services.