NEW! Green Mortgage Makeover

Irish banks are required to demonstrate sustainable lending to the European Central Bank, and one of the ways they do this is by offering Green Mortgages, which can be up to 1.0% cheaper than variable or standard fixed rates. Green Mortgages are here for the foreseeable future. Different lenders have different offers, with the most lenders offering disounted Green Mortgages for houses that have a BER rating of A or B.

How can I check my BER rating?

BER ratings are valid for 10 years, and you can check the status of your property by entering the MPRN from your electricity bill here

How can you avail of a discounted Green Mortgate if your house currently does not have a BER rating of A or B? 

If your house was built from 1990 onwards, it likely has a  BER Rating of C or D rating depending on a range of factors. The objective of this 'Green Mortgage Makeover' is to use the BER process to work out the most cost-effective route to a B-rating so that your home will qualify a for a Green Mortgage.  You will save real money every single month, or reduce the mortgage term if you decide to maintain the repayment amount at a lower interest rate.

Here's a current real-world example:

Kevin and Aoife bought their house almost three years ago. It is a four-bedroomed semi-detached house in suburban Dublin, built in 1993, with a C3 energy rating. 

Their mortgage balance is €375,000 with 27 years remaining on their mortgage. When they drew down their mortgage, the 'new business' 3-year fixed rate available was 4.2%. 

As they are exiting this 3-year period, their bank is now offering: -

-a variable rate of 3.95%, 

- or a fixed 3-year rate of 4.7%.

-a 3-year green rate of 3.1%, for which the house.

Right now, the house doesn't qualify for a Green Mortgage due to its C3 rating. 

Kevin and Aoife have two children and use 6000 units (kWh) of electricity and 18,000 units (kWh) which are both approximately 25% above the national household average.

What are their options?

Firstly , let's look at their currect combined mortgage and energy spend for 12 months.

As their current fixed-rate mortgage term is coming to an end, the available options are as follows, where the total figure shown in each case is for mortgage and energy costs per year.

A Green Mortgage combined with some simple energy upgrades would offer peace of mind with a fixed rate for 3 years, and a whopping yearly saving of

€5,652.36

If you could change to a Green Mortgage, imagine what you could do with this extra money each year.....