As Ulster Bank and KBC prepare to exit the Irish market, competition among the remaining lenders remains strong, with Haven the latest mortgage provider to announce a cut to its rates.
Although the impending exits of Ulster Bank and KBC doesn't spell great news for Irish consumers, and will ultimately reduce the level of choice in the Irish banking sector, competition in the mortgage market remains surprisingly strong for now with all the remaining lenders vying aggressively for new business in recent months.
Haven is no different and has announced that it’s making yet more cuts to some of its mortgage rates, including its green mortgage rate which it introduced last year.
However before we jump into the finer details, let’s have a reminder of who Haven is....
Who is Haven?
Haven is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIB that focuses exclusively on mortgage lending through the broker market.
It offers a range of competitive fixed and variable rates to first-time buyers, movers and switchers.
Haven's mortgages are only available to customers who apply through a Haven-appointed mortgage broker. But don't worry, that includes bonkers.ie!
What are the new rates?
Haven has announced that it’s cutting the interest rate on its green four-year fixed rate by 0.15% to just 2.0%, which now makes it the lowest green mortgage rate in the market, and the second lowest rate overall.
The green rate is available to customers whose homes have a Building Energy Rating (BER) of between A1 and B3.
Green mortgages have become increasingly popular in recent years in Ireland and several of the main lenders now offer them.
At the same time, Haven is also cutting its three-year fixed rate by 0.20% to 2.35%, offering those looking for fixed-rate certainty even better value.
The latest announcement follows the reduction of Haven’s seven and ten-year fixed mortgage rates only a few months ago.
| Rate | Previous | New | Reduction |
| 3-year fixed | 2.55% | 2.35% | -0.20% |
| 4-year green fixed | 2.15% | 2.00% | -0.15% |
| 7-year fixed | 3.15% | 2.65% | -0.50% |
| 10-year fixed | 3.30% | 2.85% | -0.45% |
Who are the new rates available to?
You’ll be happy to hear that the reduced rates are available to both new and existing mortgage customers of Haven. However, as mentioned, to avail of the green rate, your home has to have a BER of B3 or better,
Also, while many mortgage lenders reserve their best rates for those with larger deposits or higher amounts of equity, Haven offers the same competitive rates to everyone regardless of their loan-to-value (LTV) ratio.
What are the savings?
According to Haven, customers currently on a variable rate of 3.15% would save €174 on their monthly repayments if they switched to its green four-year fixed rate of 2.00%.
Meanwhile, customers on a variable rate of 3.15% would save €122 on their monthly repayments if they switched to its three-year fixed rate of 2.35%. Both savings figures are based on a €300,000 mortgage over 25 years.
Along with the new reduced rates, Haven is also offering new customers - either those who are first-time buyers, buying their next home, or switching mortgage - €5,000 cashback on fixed-rate mortgages of €250,000 or more until December 2022.
If you’re a switching customer, but you don’t meet the criteria for the €5,000 cashback offer, you can still avail of its €2,000 cashback offer towards the legal costs of switching.
You can learn more about cashback offers in our helpful guide.
Compare mortgage rates on bonkers.ie
Are you a first-time buyer or a mortgage holder looking to switch lenders to avail of a cheaper rate?
With our mortgage calculator, you can easily compare interest rates, loan terms, mortgage offers and cashback incentives from all of Ireland’s mortgage lenders, including Haven.
When it’s time to apply for your mortgage, you can submit an online enquiry through our new free mortgage broker service and one of our experienced financial advisors will call you back to get your application started.
Our mortgage service is fully digital from start to finish, meaning everything can be carried out online from the comfort of your home!
Don’t forget that if you’re applying for a mortgage, you’ll also need mortgage protection insurance and home insurance, but don’t worry we’ve also got you covered there too!
You can use bonkers.ie to compare insurance quotes and sign up to a policy in under an hour.
Get in touch
What do you think of Haven’s new mortgage rates? Do you think more lenders will lower their interest rates? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
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