Couple Get House On Hire Purchase

A COUNTY Tipperary couple has revealed they have moved into the property of their dreams through a revolutionary new hire purchase scheme facilitated by their bank.

“All we had to do is put down a small initial down payment of forty two thousand euros and we were allowed to move in almost immediately,” revealed Mary Brophy, who availed of the brand new scheme with her husband, Ger. 

“It’s a bit of a risk forking out that kind of money because if we miss a payment the house could be taken away from us but it’s the only way we could secure a home for our future family,” Ger said, before outlining the process, “the repayments also vary depending on global interest rates, which isn’t great as there’s no real cap on them, it’s a huge financial risk we’re willing to take but worth it to be able to pretend to our friends that we own the house”.

A hire purchase (HP) agreement is a credit agreement where you hire an item and pay an agreed amount in monthly instalments, however, you do not own the item until you have made the final payment.

“The guy in the bank called it a ‘death pledge’ or ‘mortgage’ and it’s kind of like a fun game people play to see if they make the payments all the way to the end – it’s quite exciting,” Mary recalled, before concluding, “sure, if we don’t fulfil the pledge the banks simply just take the house back, so what harm? It’s all just a bit of fun”.