Who is Lending

I have been approved by AIB and BOI for a mortgage on a self build. I have looked at mortgages.ie and based on this website AIB and BOI have the best rates. Do you think this is accurate.

Again according to mortgages.ie the other lenders actually lending are EBS, Haven, ICS, KBC and TSB.

Is there any point in me trawling through all of these given that BOI and AIB have supposedly got the most competitive rates.

Also could anyone confirm that is standard practice that you can't fix rates until you have drawn down the full mortgage?

Have you been offered a rate by AIB or BOI - what was it and is it fixed or variable?

AIB - Three year fixed @ 3.89%
BOI - Two year fixed @ 3.4% (their 3 year is 4.04).

AIB have said that I will have to go on a variable until the mortgage is fully drawn (I assume that BOI will be the same but I haven't asked yet)

Hi BMD
BOI will allow you to fix straight away, AIB won't allow you to fix your mortgage until it is fully drawn down

What are the variable rates that they are offering? Did you get them also.

Ok, if BOI allow me to fix then that might be the way to go (even though its only for two years) as I think the AIB rate will have gone up by June (by 0.5 or 1%)

AIB variable rate is 3.29%
BOI variable rate is 3.15%

BMD - The fact that certain lenders aren't showing up on that mortgages.ie broker website doesn't mean they are not lending. It just probably means that the broker doesn't deal with them.

There are some lower rates around than the ones you mention .
See these Mortgage Rates.
Irish Nationwide seem to be lower -( but their future might be uncertain)

Irish Nationwide do not provide finance for self builds.


While rate is important, there are many other considerations when it comes to mortgages especially with a self build.

Bank of Ireland have different fixed rates for new and existing customers so if you want to fix again in the future you may pay a premium as against going with AIB.

Why are you fixing for two years?

Do you own the site?

What's your loan to value?

If you fix would you like to have the option of paying back a certain amount in lump sums without penalty?

Lenders are now differentiating themselves on the product they offer rather than the price.

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My loan to value ratio is between 0.77, therefore I fall into the 50-80 bracket and yes I own the site.

I just thought that it might be a good idea to fix for 2-3 years as the economic situation is so uncertain....I am wary that interest rates might go up by 2-3% during this time frame.

I will want to pay off lump sums but I can't see myself doing this for at least 5 years at which stage I would have switched to a variable and therefore wouldn't be penalised

BMD said:

I will want to pay off lump sums but I can't see myself doing this for at least 5 years at which stage I would have switched to a variable and therefore wouldn't be penalised

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From that I would recommend fixing for 5 years locking in your mortgage repayments and forgetting about it. Don't fix to try and time the market, fix for certainty of repayments.

You can get a 5 year fixed for 4.5%.