Most of the mortgage lenders in Ireland are still offering incentives such as cashback mortgages to try and attract new customers.
In many cases – cashback mortgages will not come with the lowest interest rates – however, there is nothing to stop you from switching your mortgage to a lender with a better rate after you get the cashback. Just watch out for any potential penalties for ending a fixed-rate mortgage early.
- Haven is offering €5000 cashback ; only to new customers getting a fixed-rate mortgage over €250,000. (Excluding the 4 year Green Mortgage). Switchers to other Haven mortgages can get €3000 cashback.
- Bank of Ireland offers up to 3% cashback with no upper limit – (2% when you drawdown and 1% after 5 years) It is available to all new mortgage customers including Buy to Let and switchers. (Ends 31st December 2023)
- EBS also has a cashback offer – which is 2% upfront and an extra 1% after five years. This offer is available to all new EBS customers, home buyers and mortgage switchers. Not available on Green 4 Year Fixed Rate or on any Variable Rate or 1 Year Fixed Rate.
- PTSB also offers 2% cashback lump sum for all new customers and 2% off the monthly repayments back until 2027. Excludes 4 year fixed rate mortgage) . Switchers need to have been with their current lender for at least 2 years.
- AIB gives €3000 cashback to switchers.
- Avant gives 1% cashback
The banks don’t have any clawback conditions on the cashback – so you are free to switch mortgage lender again as soon as you want. However – some lenders require you to have been with your current lender for a certain amount of time before switching.
See some examples of how much you could save by switching your mortgage
Multiple Cashback Mortgages
It could be possible to get several cashback mortgages one after another.
For example – you could move a €300,000 mortgage to Bank of Ireland and then EBS and finally Haven .
The total cashback on these 3 switches would be:
- BOI €6000
- EBS €6000
- Haven €5000
A total of €17,000 cashback on a €300,000 mortgage.
With legal fees for the 3 switches estimated at €4000 – the “profit” will be in the region of €13,000. If all the switches go smoothly it could all be done in less than a year.
It might need a few hours of effort and form filling but the financial rewards will far outweigh the time you have to put in. Even if it takes say 13 hours in total – and you get €13,000 – it’s not a bad hourly rate ! (€1000 an hour).
Obviously, on a smaller mortgage, the profit will not be as big.
All the cashback payments are tax-free.
Tips For Switching Mortgage
- Get a solicitor and tell them your plans to make sure they are OK with doing it. They should charge a lower rate for multiple switches.
- Apply to all the lenders at the same time – the mortgage offers will be valid for at least 6 months.
- PTSB will require you to have been with your current lender for 2 years – so switch to them first if you are using them
- Make sure the final switch is to the lender with the best interest rate.
See the current Lowest Mortgage Rates here
- It is advised for all but the last switch to go for a variable interest rate. The rate might be higher – but you will not be on it for long. If you opt for a fixed rate there is always the chance that there could be an early repayment penalty.
Legal Fees
You should use the same solicitor for all the switches – and tell them beforehand what you are planning to do and make sure they will co-operate. Some solicitors might not want to do it – but it is all completely legal. A solicitor should be able to give a reduced price for 3 or 4 switches in such a short time span. We estimate legal and valuation fees should not cost more than €4000 for 3 switches.
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