There are 10 mortgage lenders available in Ireland. These include AIB, Avant Money, Bank of Ireland, EBS, Finance Ireland, Haven, ICS Mortgages, MoCo, Núa Money, and PTSB.

Many mortgage holders are eligible to switch mortgages and could save significant sums of money by doing so. To qualify to switch mortgages, you must consider the following:

• if the outstanding amount left on your loan is under €30,000, a new lender is unlikely to allow you to switch
• you must qualify for your new mortgage, just as you did for your initial one; if your financial circumstances have changed since your first mortgage approval, you may be unable to switch
• you must have a good credit rating
• you must not be in negative equity
• if you have a fixed rate contract with the current lender, you may be charged penalty fees for switching

It is vital to compare your options before deciding to take out a mortgage. Taking the time to do so could save you tens of thousands of euro over the lifetime of your loan.

Thankfully, it is very easy to compare mortgage lenders with our Mortgage Calculator. Simply enter the amount of money you would like to borrow, the value of the property you are purchasing, the term of your loan and whether you would like a fixed or variable rate and you'll be shown a list of all of your options.

The Central Bank's mortgage lending rules impose a cap on the amount of money a bank is permitted to lend.

Currently, Ireland's banks are allowed to lend up to 4 times a borrower's annual income. In the case of two people buying a home together, the bank can lend 4 times their two incomes combined.

Lenders are permitted to exceed the 4x loan-to-income cap for 20% of the total value of lending in a calendar year.

Lenders examine bank statements to get an understanding of a borrower's repayment capacity. In other words, they want to know that you are going to meet your monthly repayments. There are a number of elements that a provider will look for in your bank statement. You'll be asked to produce six months of bank and credit card statements and these need to tell the right kind of story about your spending habits.

• you'll need to prove that you are a sensible spender; banks will not look kindly on risky expenses like payments to gambling sites or hefty unpaid credit card bills.
• your statements should also prove that you save or pay rent regularly; make sure that rent and savings payments are clearly outlined in your statements.