It may be a sign of the changing times, but one couple’s dreams of moving into their own home have been dashed after their bank pulled the plug on an €80,000 mortgage that they had granted them last year.

This is despite the fact that both of them are in full time employment – and they would have ended up spending much less on mortgage repayments than they currently do on rent.

A devastated Brian Kelly (27) and his fiancée Martina Hynes (24) had secured an €80,000 mortgage from a bank in the middle of last year and were excited about moving into their new home just outside Gort when they were dealt the cruelest of blows.

Last month the bank informed them that they would no longer be giving them the mortgage – and cited issues with regard to the completion of the estate they were moving into as their reason for reneging.

Brian, who works in local Lady Gregory Hotel, said that they had set their sights on a show house at Sliabh Carron which is located on the Ennis Road out of Gort. “It was ready to walk into,” he said.

The purchase price was €135,000 – but as he had savings in excess of €50,000, the couple required a mortgage of just €80,000 and actually spent a month and a half going around the financial institutions before eventually securing one. Some banks never even got back to them.

As Martina, a childcare worker, was on maternity leave at the time having given birth to their now-ten month old daughter Roisin – and this was used by the bank as an excuse for not approving a mortgage. When Brian looked for a letter to this extent, however, they eventually agreed to approve the mortgage.

Unfortunately for them, the builder of the estate went into receivership and there were outstanding issues with regard to sewerage and roads while the management company then ceased to exist.

See full story in this week's Connacht Tribune.