Yesterday the Central Bank of Ireland announced it will relax the rules governing how much banks can lend to home buyers.  From the first of January, first time buyers will be permitted to borrow 4x their income, up from the existing 3.5x. Second and subsequent time buyers will also be allowed to borrow 90 per  cent of the cost of a home, up from 80 per cent. These rules were first introduced in 2015, as a response to the goings-on of the previous decade. They are intended to limit the size of property crashes, and insulate the banks from them. …

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