@Robert T When did you first take out a mortgage with Bank of Ireland? Was it in October 2021? Or was it earlier than that but you only fixed/switched rates in October 2021?
- The date you started your fixed-rate mortgage (month and year) - October 2021
- How many years you fixed for - 2 years
Took out the mortgage in October 2021@Robert T When did you first take out a mortgage with Bank of Ireland? Was it in October 2021? Or was it earlier than that but you only fixed/switched rates in October 2021?
Your break fee should be zero at the moment – but it is volatile because wholesale interest rates are volatile, so confirm it with Ulster Bank (and please post it here when you receive it, including the date of the letter).Current lender: UB
Outstanding mortgage balance: 151k
Approximate value of your property: 365k
The date you started your fixed-rate mortgage: November 2019
How many years you fixed for: 4
Your current mortgage interest rate: 2.6%
Your current monthly repayment: €1238
Your property's BER: A2
Are you due to get extra cashback from your current lender in the future: N/A
Current lender - KBC
Outstanding mortgage balance (how much you still owe) - €240k
Approximate value of your property - €330k
The date you started your fixed-rate mortgage (month and year) - Apr 2019
How many years you fixed for - 5 years
Your current mortgage interest rate - 2.8%
Your current monthly repayment (excluding any overpayments) - €1100
Your property's BER (Building Energy Rating) – check it here or estimate it if necessary - B3
Are you due to get extra cashback from your current lender in the future, e.g., "1% after 5 years", or "2% cashback monthly"? If so, how much and when? Nope
thanks Paul really appreciate the feedback. i have asked for the breakage letter from UB, once i get it will post here.Your break fee should be zero at the moment – but it is volatile because wholesale interest rates are volatile, so confirm it with Ulster Bank (and please post it here when you receive it, including the date of the letter).
So the upfront costs are about €1,485 (solicitors' fees of about €1,300 and a valuation fee of €185). But the solicitors' fees are usually only due after the switch is completed, by which time you might have built up enough savings. Note that if you are going for for one the "green" mortgage products, you will need a valid BER cert, which will cost you about €150 to €250 if you don't already have one (check here). There are no upfront costs (apart from a BER cert if you need one) associated with re-fixing with Ulster Bank, but doing so means that you will become a Permanent TSB customer soon, and you will face their higher rates in the future.
Note: you may receive two separate letters from Ulster Bank a few days apart, and their structure and wording can lead to confusion. Look for the line that says: "To break out of this fixed rate early, you would have to pay a fee of €X". That amount is your break fee. Ignore all other references to break fees.
- Switching immediately to Haven's 4-year green fixed rate (2.0% with €2,000 cashback) will save you about €2,680 over the next 4 years
- Switching immediately to AIB's 5-year green fixed rate (2.1% with €2,000 cashback) will save you about €2,160 over the next 4 years
- And it is quite likely that you will be able to make unlimited overpayments without penalty for the foreseeable future (see this thread)
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 4-year fixed rate (1.95% with no cashback) will save you about €900 over the next 4 years
- Switching immediately to Ulster Bank's 4-year green fixed rate (2.25% with no cashback) will save you about €820 over the next 4 years. And it is very simple and quick to do (no bank statements, salary cert or solicitor, etc., needed).
- Note that if you decide to do this, your mortgage will soon move onto Permanent TSB's books, and they discriminate between new and existing customers, i.e., their best rates are not available to existing customers
- For example, if you were an existing Permanent TSB customer, the best rate you would be able to switch to today is 2.95%
- So if you switch to this Ulster Bank offer now, you will probably not be eligible to switch to one of Permanent TSB's low rates in the future and you will end up on a higher interest rate. When that happens, you may want to switch again to another lender, which will incur costs (and it might be impossible to switch if your financial situation has deteriorated).
- Switching immediately to Ulster Bank's 5-year fixed rate (2.35% with no cashback) will save you about €300 over the next 4 years. And it is very simple and quick to do (no bank statements, salary cert or solicitor, etc., needed).
- The same warnings as above regarding higher Permanent TSB rates in the future apply
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 5-year fixed rate (2.15% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €140 over the next 4 years
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 7-year fixed rate (2.25% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €660 over the next 4 years – but with the even-longer security of 7 years on a fixed rate
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 10-year fixed rate (2.4% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €1,460 over the next 4 years – but with the even-longer security of 10 years on a fixed rate
- Switching immediately to Finance Ireland's 10-year fixed rate (2.4% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €1,460 over the next 4 years – but with the even-longer security of 10 years on a fixed rate
- This product has a benefit in relation to moving home in the future that is explained below
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's "One Mortgage" (a 2.4% fixed rate with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €1,460 over the next 4 years – and the interest rate will remain fixed for the remainder of your mortgage term (approximately 12 years)
- Switching immediately to Ulster Bank's 7- or 10-year fixed rate (2.8% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €2,060 over the next 4 years – but with the even-longer security of 7 or 10 years on a fixed rate. And it is very simple and quick to do (no bank statements, salary cert or solicitor, etc., needed).
- The same warnings as above regarding higher Permanent TSB rates in the future apply
- The monthly repayment would be €1,252
These savings estimates use for comparison the scenario of switching to the 2.25% rate with Ulster Bank when the current fixed rate ends. And that's assuming that Ulster Bank (or Permanent TSB, if they have taken over your mortgage by then) are even offering a 2.25% rate in January 2024 – it could be higher (or lower). The estimates also account for any fees (solicitors' fees, valuation fee) that you have to pay and any cashback offered by the above lenders.
It may seem like it is not worth switching to another lender but bear in mind that your mortgage will soon be owned by Permanent TSB, whose rates are much higher than Ulster Bank's. So if you don't switch now, you might find that you really want to switch in a few years' time, at which point rates might be higher (and it might be impossible to switch if your financial situation has deteriorated).
All of Avant's rates, and Finance Ireland's 10-year and longer fixed rates, allow you to avoid any potential break fee if you move home in the future (as long as you take out a new mortgage with them, and subject to certain conditions). And in the case of Finance Ireland you can "take your mortgage with you" – meaning that you get to keep the same interest rate when you move (again, subject to certain conditions).
For the Haven and AIB products, I believe you get the cashback about 2 months after you complete the switch.
Hi Paul,To request guidance, please provide the following information:
- Current lender - Bank of Ireland
- Outstanding mortgage balance (how much you still owe) - €257k
- Approximate value of your property - €320k
- The date you started your fixed-rate mortgage (month and year) - October 2021
- How many years you fixed for - 2 years
- Your current mortgage interest rate - 2.9%
- Your current monthly repayment (excluding any overpayments) - €1006
- Your property's BER (Building Energy Rating) – check it here or estimate it if necessary - B3
- Are you due to get extra cashback from your current lender in the future, e.g., "1% after 5 years", or "2% cashback monthly"? If so, how much and when? Yes, after 5 years.
Your break fee should be zero at the moment – but it is volatile because wholesale interest rates are volatile, so confirm it with Ulster Bank (and please post it here when you receive it, including the date of the letter).Current lender: Ulster Bank
Outstanding mortgage balance: 262k
Approximate value of your property: 435k
The date you started your fixed-rate mortgage: September 2021
How many years you fixed for: 5
Your current mortgage interest rate: 2.2%
Your current monthly repayment: €907
Your property's BER: E
Are you due to get extra cashback from your current lender in the future: No
Got two letters from Ulster bank after asking for a breakage fee. One letter says the breakage costs are 0 and other letter gave me different options to choose from (2 yrs fixed 2.2% ending on 30/06/2024; 4 yrs green mortgage @ 2.25% etc etc with some breakage costs for each option). I am just confused between two letters which says 0 and other letter with different breakage costs ranging from 2.5K to 3K... which one is correct out of those two letters if i want to break out of Ulster?
- Current lender - Ulster
- Outstanding mortgage balance (how much you still owe) - 167877
- Approximate value of your property - 450K
- The date you started your fixed-rate mortgage (month and year) - Oct 2021
- How many years you fixed for - 2 yrs (Ends on 31/12/2023)
- Your current mortgage interest rate - 2.2%
- Your current monthly repayment (excluding any overpayments) - 936.01, 18Yrs & 9 months remained.
- Your property's BER (Building Energy Rating) – check it here or estimate it if necessary - A3
- Are you due to get extra cashback from your current lender in the future, e.g., "1% after 5 years", or "2% cashback monthly"? If so, how much and when? - None
Super helpful, many thanks
- Switching immediately to Permanent TSB's 5-year green fixed rate (2.35% with €5,139 initial cashback and 2% monthly cashback) will save you about €10,460 over the next 4 years
- Note that Permanent TSB discriminate between new and existing customers, i.e., their best rates are not available to existing customers
- For example, if you were an existing Permanent TSB customer, the best rate you would be able to switch to today is 2.95%
- So if you switch to them now, you will not be eligible to switch to one of their low rates in the future and you will end up on a higher interest rate. When that happens, you may want to switch again to another lender, which will incur costs (and it might be impossible to switch if your financial situation has deteriorated).
- Switching immediately to Haven's 4-year green fixed rate (2.0% with €2,000 cashback) will save you about €10,220 over the next 4 years
- Switching immediately to AIB's 5-year green fixed rate (2.15% with €2,000 cashback) will save you about €8,720 over the next 4 years
- And it is quite likely that you will be able to make unlimited overpayments without penalty for the foreseeable future (see this thread)
- Switching immediately to Haven's 7-year fixed rate (2.65% with €5,000 cashback) will save you about €6,700 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 7 years on a fixed rate
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 7-year fixed rate (2.45% with no cashback) will save you about €3,640 over the next 4 years – but with the even-longer security of 7 years on a fixed rate
- You would have to shorten your mortgage term to 30 years to be eligible for this rate
- The monthly repayment would be €1,009
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 10-year fixed rate (2.6% with no cashback) will save you about €2,140 over the next 4 years – but with the even-longer security of 10 years on a fixed rate
- You would have to shorten your mortgage term to 30 years to be eligible for this rate
- The monthly repayment would be €1,029
- Switching immediately to Finance Ireland's 10- or 15-year fixed rate (2.65% with no cashback) will save you about €1,660 over the next 4 years – but with the even-longer security of 10 or 15 years on a fixed rate
- This product has a benefit in relation to moving home in the future that is explained below
- And your interest rate (initially 2.65%) will automatically fall as time passes and you move into lower loan-to-value (LTV) brackets. See the section "How we decide rate reductions" on this page.
- Switching immediately to Bank of Ireland's 5-year fixed rate (3.0% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €520 over the next 4 years. But it is very simple and quick to do (no bank statements, salary cert or solicitor, etc., needed).
These savings estimates use for comparison the scenario of switching to the 3.0% rate with Bank of Ireland when the current fixed rate ends. And that's assuming that Bank of Ireland are even offering a 3.0% rate in October 2023 – it could be higher (or lower). The estimates also account for any fees (solicitors' fees, valuation fee) that you have to pay and any cashback offered by the above lenders.
All of Avant's rates, and Finance Ireland's 10-year and longer fixed rates, allow you to avoid any potential break fee if you move home in the future (as long as you take out a new mortgage with them, and subject to certain conditions). And in the case of Finance Ireland you can "take your mortgage with you" – meaning that you get to keep the same interest rate when you move (again, subject to certain conditions).
The estimates also assume that you get your loan-to-value ratio (LTV) below 80% so that you are eligible for the listed rates. Your LTV is currently 257k/320k = 80.3%. A slightly higher property valuation (€322k) and/or a few more monthly mortgage payments and/or a small overpayment will get you below 80%. But that is not a reason to delay the switch – i.e., you can start the switch immediately.
If you're feeling brave, you could consider the strategy outlined in this thread: switch to Haven's 2.35% 3-year fixed rate and get the €5k cashback. Then quickly switch to Haven's 2.0% green rate. If it works, you will be better off by about €13,220 in four years' time. Nobody knows for sure if Haven will allow you to do this, so you might be stuck on the 2.35% rate, but at least you'd have got the €5k cashback.
Some of the above lenders will only let you switch to them if you have had a mortgage with your current lender for at least 12 months. See this thread for more details. That means that you are not eligible to switch to Permanent TSB or Avant right now – but you may be able to start the switching process now and complete it (draw down) in October. In the case of Haven and Finance Ireland, it is not clear if you can switch to them right now. In all cases, check with the lender to find out. Note that you can switch to AIB immediately.
If you want savings estimates for longer-term fixed rates, let me know.
Current lender: PTSB
Outstanding mortgage balance: 380,000
Approximate value of your property: 560,000
The date you started your fixed-rate mortgage (month and year): ~Jan 2021
How many years you fixed for: 3 years
Your current mortgage interest rate: 2.5%
Your current monthly repayment (excluding any overpayments): 1719
Your property's BER (Building Energy Rating) – estimated if necessary: C1
Cashback: Get back 2% of monthly payment.