Fix your mortgage repayments for 10 years with Bank of Ireland’s new 4.99% fixed rate mortgage

the only 10 year fixed rate mortgage available in the Irish market
43% of first time buyer customers choosing to fix

From today (Tuesday 2 September 2014) Bank of Ireland mortgage customers can choose to fix their mortgage repayments for 10 years at just 4.99%. As the only 10-year fixed rate mortgage available in the Irish market this extra-long option at a highly competitive rate makes Bank of Ireland the market-leading option for mortgage applicants looking for certainty in their repayments in the current low interest rate environment. Mortgage customers can also choose from the Bank’s very competitive range of 1, 2, 3 and 5 year fixed rate options.

“There’s nothing else like this on the market,” said Aine McCleary, Bank of Ireland’s Head of Mortgages. “This new rate is available to new and existing customers, regardless of their LTV, and giving customers the option to fix at under 5% for a full decade is a further compelling addition to our range of highly competitive fixed rate mortgages.”

For those looking to retain flexibility, Bank of Ireland also allows customers fix just a portion of their mortgage and keep the remainder on a variable rate. “It combines the benefits of certainty of repayments with the flexibility of a variable mortgage,” McCleary says, “and the borrower can choose the portion they want to fix, whether that’s 80% or more, or as little as 10%.”
“An analysis of our recent mortgages in Bank of Ireland shows that many customers are choosing fixed rate options so that they can be certain of their mortgage repayments for a period”, McCleary continued. To date this year, almost a third of our mortgage customers have opted for one of our fixed rate products, and the proportion is higher among our first time buyer customers with 43% choosing to fix. It shows that younger mortgage customers in particular are opting for the certainty that comes with fixed rate mortgages.”
The bank has a €2 billion fund available for First Time Buyer and Mover mortgage lending and expects its 10 year fixed rate option to be a very popular option from its mortgage product range. This long term fixed rate is the latest in a number of product initiatives from Bank of Ireland demonstrating that they truly want to support customers buying a new home. They are refunding to customers the Stamp Duty due on their property to the value of 1% of their mortgage and the offer is available to movers as well as first time buyers. The average mortgage taken out by someone moving house is €209,756*, making this offer worth over €2,000 to the average customer moving to a new home.

“We’re listening to our customers and looking for ways to make house-buying easier”, McCleary says. “Bank of Ireland’s 24-hour customer promise is now in every one of our 250 branches in the Republic where we will get back to customers within 24 hours with a full credit assessment providing real approval that the customer can act on, not just approval in principle. Some of our customers find it difficult to get everything done during banking hours, so Bank of Ireland has a team of mobile mortgage managers – professionally qualified advisers who are available to meet customers at a time and place that suits best, whether that’s in the customer’s home or place of work, even at the weekend.”

Also in response to customer feedback, Bank of Ireland’s “House-Hunter mortgage approval” gives customers full approval for a mortgage amount even before they have settled on a suitable property. This allows them to search for their new home with the confidence that the finance is in place, and the approval remains valid for a full six months.

“We’re open for mortgage business, we’re listening to our customers and we’re changing our mortgage products to best suit their needs”, added Aine McCleary, “and we’re confident that our 10 year fixed rate mortgage option will appeal to mortgage customers who value the certainty this will provide them over the longer term.”