@dkieran 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. If it is higher than zero, please post it here when you receive it, including the date of the letter.
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 Avant Money's 4-year fixed rate (1.95% with no cashback) will save you about €1,140 over the next 4 years
- Switching immediately to AIB's 5-year fixed rate (2.35% with €2,000 cashback) will save you about €500 over the next 4 years
- Switching immediately to Ulster Bank's 4- or 5-year fixed rate (2.35% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €60 over the next 4 years. But 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 3.0%
- 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 Avant Money's 5-year fixed rate (2.15% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €200 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 €880 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 7 years on a fixed rate
- If Avant won't let you switch to them and you really want to fix for 7 years for some reason, you could consider Haven's 7-year fixed rate (2.65% with €2,000 cashback)
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's 10-year fixed rate (2.4% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €1,880 over the next 4 years – but with the longer security of 10 years on a fixed rate
- If Avant won't let you switch to them and you really want to fix for 10 years for some reason, you could consider KBC's 10-year fixed rate (2.85% with €3,000 cashback). You must apply by 15 July 2022 if you wish to switch to KBC. You would also have to apply for a current account with them by that date.
- Switching immediately to Avant Money's "One Mortgage" (a 2.4% fixed rate with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €1,880 over the next 4 years – and the interest rate will remain fixed for the remainder of your mortgage term (approximately 14 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 €3,080 over the next 4 years – but with the 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
- Switching immediately to Finance Ireland's 10-year fixed rate (2.9% with no cashback) will leave you worse off by about €5,240 over the next 4 years – but with the 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
These savings estimates use for comparison the scenario of switching to the 2.35% 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 2.35% rate in January 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.
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).
Bear in mind that interest rates could rise between now and the time that you complete any switch, so if you are thinking of switching you should probably apply simultaneously to two or more lenders for approval in principle (AIP).