50k for Home Improvements?

oEmmao

Hi all,

Can you tell me if this is considered a personal loan or a mortgage?

Hubby owns our house, we can change it to joint ownership if it makes things easier?

We want to borrow about 50k to make our home a little bigger and change a few things structurally.

I want to get a mortgage as the rate will be lower? Is this allowed for a 'small' amount. All I can see online is First Time Buyers and Mover Mortgages, we are neither.

I will be having a chat to someone in my bank this week, just wanted to have a better idea myself.

Cheers

phormium

Is there any mortgage on the house at the moment?

If not then the bank may consider a new mortgage for the home improvements, this mortgage would be in joint names as it's the family home. 50k is probably about the minimum amount for most banks for a mortgage. Borrow enough anyway for the full job (assuming income is ok etc) as it will be a lot of hassle to increase it if you run short, better to apply for 60k for example and not draw down the last 10k if you don't need it than to apply for 50k and have to go back looking for extra 10.

It's unlikely a bank would give you a personal loan of that amount as they would want security for a loan of that size usually so a mortgage is probably your best option. While the rate will be better you also need to factor in the cost of legal fees.

oEmmao

meant to say house is owned outright by hubby, no mortgage on it

can you apply for 100k and only use half, does that not change the whole agreement and terms or is this allowed?

Bank of Ireland: Nicola

Hi oEmmao, Nicola here from the Bank of Ireland Talk to forum.

It would be best to have a chat with a financial adviser about this as they will able to assess all of the circumstances and advise you about the most suitable option.

We do offer home improvement loans where it’s possible to borrow up to €65,000 that can be repaid over up to 7 years. There’s more information about this on our website here.

There’s also the option of an equity release mortgage, this would be a loan secured on the property and you can get more information online here.

You can skype or facetime one of our mortgage advisers through that link as well if you've any questions or feel free to drop by our Talk to forum.

Thanks
Nicola

phormium

It is possible to apply for more than you want and not use it but I wouldn't be doubling it just for the craic. Big difference between 50k and 100k, I was suggesting building in a contingency amount for when the renovations invariably go over budget.

The main difference applying for an increased amount will cause if you don't use it is you will have to provided life insurance to cover the amount of the mortgage before you draw down anything. So if for example you applied for 65k and only used 55k then you will be paying for 65k of life cover, now you could always go back and change that afterwards and in fairness the difference in cost is likely to be small anyway.

You are in a good position if there is no mortgage and income is ok, any bank should be happy to deal with you so shop around for the best deal.