# Bank of ireland Tracker mover product - 5 year limit scrapped!



## Annemarie123 (7 Jun 2018)

I rang BOI and was told that the tracker mover is no longer just for 5 years but is now for the lifetime of the mortage. I was suprised as i had expected to see such a move in the news headlines or even discussed online and I can’t find any sign of it. Does anyone know anything here?


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## Brendan Burgess (7 Jun 2018)

Hi Annemarie

That is news to me, but it looks as if it's true:

https://personalbanking.bankofireland.com/borrow/mortgages/mover/starter-tracker-for-mover/

_If you choose a Tracker for Movers, the interest rate will change in line with the European Central Bank (ECB) Repo rate until the date when the tracker mortgage loan you have now would have been paid off if you’d kept it for its full term, i.e. until the “tracker end date”.


You can have a term for your new loan that ends after the tracker end date, for example, to match the term for any additional borrowing to buy your new home. After the tracker end date, any amount you still owe us will be charged interest at the prevailing Bank of Ireland variable rate for home loans (or we may offer you other rate options at that point)._

Brendan


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## Annemarie123 (7 Jun 2018)

I saw that too on their page. Just thought there would be some hype about it. I only radomly asked them on the phone on the off chance. This i think means a major change of plans for us. Now i think it makes more sense to sell our 3 bed semi starter home to finance our trading up family home. We have 175,000 left at ecb+1 on the 3 bed semi and we need 300,000 in total to build the new house.


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## Brendan Burgess (8 Jun 2018)

It makes sense for BoI to do this. 

They will be getting 2% on your €175,000 which is still above the eurozone average. So it's very profitable for them. 

And they will be getting far more on any additional amount you want to borrow.

Brendan


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## luckystar (8 Jun 2018)

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/boi-tracker-5-yr-mover-mortgage.204957/#post-1565588

I had posted this info back in April. Great news - interestingly I think they've put a clause in that if you rent out the property you lose the tracker. 
Anyway, great news for us with BOI trackers and wish to trade up or down


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## Delboy (8 Jun 2018)

ARRRGGHHHH 
I moved house 2 years ago and so am under the 5yr rule i.e. my tracker +1% will be gone in 3yrs.

I'm going to contact them today via the mortgage lad in my local branch and see if anything can be done. Will report back


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## Brendan Burgess (8 Jun 2018)

luckystar said:


> I had posted this info back in April.



If you had followed the Posting Guidelines and not just posted a link without comment, it would have been noticed by a few more people.

Brendan


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## Brendan Burgess (8 Jun 2018)

Delboy said:


> I'm going to contact them today via the mortgage lad in my local branch and see if anything can be done.



I would expect them to extend it to the people who have already availed of it.  But they are under no obligation to do so.

Brendan


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## Annemarie123 (8 Jun 2018)

With our 175 at the 2.1 tracker mover and the other 125 at fixed/ variable etc am i basically tied to bank of Ireland with no option to switch ever.


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## Brendan Burgess (8 Jun 2018)

No, you are not tied to BoI at all. You can switch to any other bank who will take you. You will just pay the market interest rate on the full amount.

Brendan


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## Brendan Burgess (9 Jun 2018)

Delboy said:


> I moved house 2 years ago and so am under the 5yr rule i.e. my tracker +1% will be gone in 3yrs.



Hi Delboy 

Good news! You can keep your tracker for its full term. 

Charlie Weston picked up on this story yesterday and BoI has confirmed to him that those who have moved who were subject to a 5 year limit, will no longer be subject to that limit. 

*Bank breaks 'tracker mortgage trap' by allowing movers keep cheap rates on new homes*

_Head of mortgages at Bank of Ireland Shane Quinlan said: “Tracker for Mover is a tracker interest rate for homeowners who have a Bank of Ireland mortgage loan with a tracker interest rate and want to move home. 

....
And the change will apply to those who have already moved home with a tracker. 


“The product applies to existing Bank of Ireland tracker customers, and Bank of Ireland tracker customers who moved their tracker when the five-year limit applied,” he added._


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## Delboy (9 Jun 2018)

That's like a small lotto win! Brilliant news.
Means I get to keep my tracker +1% for another 10 odd years after the 5 years are up. That's a 1.5% differential based on current rate comparisons.

I'll celebrate this one!


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## dragonboy (11 Jun 2018)

Hi Delboy, I am in very same situation as you we moved 3 yrs ago and only have 2 yey left , so initially was delighted with the news however after all that's happened I don't trust the banks they give nothing away for free, I am playing devils advocate here but as the  irish Banks have some of the highest variable rates in Europe and they are under pressure to bring them in line with other european countries could there be a situation where the variable rate is similar if not equal to the ECB rate and therefore we are losing out by then paying ECB /tracker rate plus 1% rather than just the variable rate.. just a thought as I said they give nothing away for free...


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## RedOnion (11 Jun 2018)

@dragonboy 
Just another take on this. Your tracker rate will be quaranteed as a margin above ECB. Even if the variable rate drops below that (extremely unlikely in short term), it will not be guaranteed to stay lower.

Also, there is nothing to stop you giving up your tracker at any stage to switch to a fixed or standard variable rate if they are better.

Banks aren't giving you something for free. Allowing mover trackers makes lots of sense to them financially. On average movers increase their mortgage by about 1/3, which is at a higher rate. Plus they add 1% to the rate. So they make more money.
But most importantly, the quality of the loan is better. People are far less likely to go into arrears on a mortgage when they actually want to stay in the house.

BoI were the last to offer this extended term. Imagine the bad press they'd get if they started offering it now, but didn't include those that already availed of it?


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## dragonboy (11 Jun 2018)

Fair enough.. ah the legacy of how the recession has made us paronoid, we moved our tracker 3yrs ago but did not increase our borrowings


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## Delboy (12 Jun 2018)

I still haven't had confirmation of this change from my branch whom I contacted last week. But it looks like a done deal based on The Indo's article and I'm not expecting any nasty surprises.


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## cullenswood (12 Jun 2018)

I have email confirmation from BOI that all 5 year ported tracker loans will fall under this initiative and have the option of the tracker for the life of the loan.


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## peemac (12 Jun 2018)

dragonboy said:


> Hi Delboy, I am in very same situation as you we moved 3 yrs ago and only have 2 yey left , so initially was delighted with the news however after all that's happened I don't trust the banks they give nothing away for free, I am playing devils advocate here but as the  irish Banks have some of the highest variable rates in Europe and they are under pressure to bring them in line with other european countries could there be a situation where the variable rate is similar if not equal to the ECB rate and therefore we are losing out by then paying ECB /tracker rate plus 1% rather than just the variable rate.. just a thought as I said they give nothing away for free...


For Irish rates to come to anywhere near european averages you would need to allow the banks repossess properties from non payers in the same way as the european countries that everyone compares rates with. In other words, the banks would be able to have repossession completed within 6-9 months of default - rather that the current 6-9 years and after several costly court cases that seems to operate in Ireland.

And the chances of the political establishment permitting that is zero. Hence the chances of variable rates being at or near european averages is zero.


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## Delboy (13 Jun 2018)

Confirmation received from BoI that when the current 5yr period is up, I'll receive a list of rate options. 1 of them will be to keep the tracker +1% for the remainder of the original term.
I'm off to The Shelbourne for lunch


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## todo (13 Jun 2018)

Delboy said:


> Confirmation received from BoI that when the current 5yr period is up, I'll receive a list of rate options. 1 of them will be to keep the tracker +1% for the remainder of the original term.
> I'm off to The Shelbourne for lunch



Make sure you get that in writing.
It sounds like sometime they've promised in the past but not lived up to, thats why we are here.


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## Brendan Burgess (13 Jun 2018)

Delboy said:


> I'm off to The Shelbourne for lunch



I've only seen this now. I could have joined you. 

Brendan


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## Delboy (13 Jun 2018)

I have it in an email, thanks.

Is it because of the current tracker issue and other associated banking messes, that the likes of BoI have offered this new deal to people like me who had signed up to the older, less favorable deal? It's the only reasoning I can see behind their decision


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## Delboy (13 Jun 2018)

Brendan Burgess said:


> I've only seen this now. I could have joined you.
> 
> Brendan


Couldn't afford your tastes in red wine and kobe beef!


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## POC1978 (14 Jun 2018)

Do I need to contact branch or actual mortgage center? This is unreal news.


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## rjn (15 Jul 2018)

Is anyone aware of whether you lose the BOI’s tracker rate (+1%) if you subsequently have to rent out your principle primary residence?  We are keen to trade up, and avail of the BOI’s offer to maintain our tracker plus 1%, but we know that we may need to move overseas temporarily some time in the future for work.  Would we then lose the rate?  I thought I saw reference to this in the thread above but now can’t find it.  Thanks!


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## peemac (17 Jul 2018)

rjn said:


> Is anyone aware of whether you lose the BOI’s tracker rate (+1%) if you subsequently have to rent out your principle primary residence?  We are keen to trade up, and avail of the BOI’s offer to maintain our tracker plus 1%, but we know that we may need to move overseas temporarily some time in the future for work.  Would we then lose the rate?  I thought I saw reference to this in the thread above but now can’t find it.  Thanks!


With some 5 year fixed rates at 2.6%, the 1% extra on a tracker mover doesn't necessarily make the best sense anymore, so I'd now be shopping around for what the best net cost is and I suspect there's very little between a tracker mover combined with additional funding and some of the fixed rates out there for the entire amount. 

As for the direct question,  I don't think anyone here has had a tracker taken away for renting out the property - at the end of the day the bank is still making a profit and won't want to lose the business.


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## Brendan Burgess (17 Jul 2018)

peemac said:


> With some 5 year fixed rates at 2.6%, the 1% extra on a tracker mover doesn't necessarily make the best sense anymore,



By all means, do the maths. But if BoI gives 3% cash back on the extra bit borrowed and 3% interest rate, it will probably be better for 5 years at least. That is an effective rate of 2.4% on the extra bit if kept for 5 years. 

But I wouldn't be hugely worried at this stage about possibly losing a tracker mover product in a few years. After a few years, the tracker will have declined in value as you reduce the capital and as market rates fall in the direction of tracker rates. 


Brendan


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## Brendan Burgess (17 Jul 2018)

rjn said:


> We are keen to trade up, and avail of the BOI’s offer to maintain our tracker plus 1%, but we know that we may need to move overseas temporarily some time in the future for work.



If this is the plan, would you not stay where you are and trade up after you come back?   You might be happier renting out a house you intend to move from anyway instead of renting out your home. 

Brendan


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## rjn (18 Jul 2018)

We have been wondering that ourselves.  The issue is that our jobs require us to work offshore for a few years and then return for a few years and then go away again so we are going to have to rent out the house at some point, whether now or later.   We are also quite keen on looking at a house that has a granny flat or some part we can keep for ourselves to use when we visit or if one of us does some commuting.


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## rjn (18 Jul 2018)

That’s comforting about being unlikely to lose the rate, thanks Peemac.


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