Bank of Scotland reduce LTV's to 80%

Bank of Scotland Ireland have today announced that they are reducing the Loan to Values for new mortgage approvals. This is bad news for First Time Buyers as it means there is now one less option in the higher LTV bracket.

As well as reducing Loan to Values Bank of Scotland have also hiked their new business rates. Their 5 year fixed for example is now 6.15%. AIB's 5 year fixed is currently 3.69%.

The only Mortgage Lenders now offering 90 to 92% of the purchase price are the ones covered by the government guarantee. For instance 92% mortgages are still available from AIB and Bank of Ireland. PTSB will lend up to 90%.

There is now a very limited range of options for First Time Buyers and only the best applications are getting approved.

ECB Rate falls to record low of 1%

The European Central Bank has just announced today that it is reducing the ECB interest rate to 1%.

This means a futher saving of approx €30 per month on a 250,000 mortgage over 25 years for those on tracker rates. Hopefully all Mortgage lenders will also pass on the cut to variable customers too.

With rates now at an all time low fixed rates are looking very tempting, even perhaps for those currently on good tracker rates. Rates will inevitably go up at some stage so fixing in for the next 3 to 5 years could be a good option.

If you need to discuss interest rates with one of our Mortgage Advisors you can Apply Online here.