The next step in the anti-bailout campaign has begun. A team of volunteers have been hard at work since the budget was unveiled. They have crafted a State Aid complaint to the European Commission.

You can do your part by copying the complaint and submitting it yourself. Full instructions on how to submit the complaint can be found here. It's very easy and only takes a few minutes.

For more information on this campaign, or to join in the discussion, visit The Property Pin

The story was covered in the Sunday Mirror on October 19th.

Sunday Mirror
19th October 2008
BY LISA O'CONNOR

Justice Minister Brian Lenihan's attempts to kickstart the property market are set to be challenged by the EU.

In this week's budget, the Minister outlined plans for government-backed mortgages for people refused home loans by the banks. The government has set aside a staggering €1.65 billion to support the housing market in the latest budget.

But the cost of providing loans to first time buyers - who will only be allowed to buy new build houses that developers have been unable to sell in the recent housing market crash - could turn out to be many times more than that if the market continues to fall and these borrowers end up defaulting on their mortgages.

The Housing Finance Agency can borrow money in the markets, backed by a guarantee from the Minister for Finance. According to their current corporate plan, the HFA already has 'substantial risk' on its books totalling €57 million.

The extension of the HFA allows for loans of up to €285,000 from local authorities to to people wanting to buy a new build house. But they must be earning at least €40,000 a year, and can only borrow up to 92% of the house value over a maximum of 30 years.

The decision to offer state-supported mortgages for those refused by the banks was made over a month ago, but only revealed in the budget speech on Tuesday. A website to explain the 'Home Choice Loans' scheme was registered by the Affordable Homes Partnership on the 11th of September.

The Minister admitted in his speech that the measure requires the approval of the EU, as it could breach European rules on providing state aid to private businesses.
Currently the government has a ten year permission dating from 2004 to underwrite all affordable housing loans issued by the agency.

But this new extension of the agency could be seen as an attempt to shore up developers who built thousands of houses which they cannot now sell, especially as the scheme is not aimed at low earners.

Now a grass-roots internet campaign has begun lobbying Brussels to throw out the measure. Members of the Property Pin website, who campaign for house prices in Ireland to be let fall naturally, intend to complain to the EU en masse about this week's decision.