Mortgage Deposit Exemptions

ash xxx

Hey everyone,

We are currently looking for a house and have applied through a few banks for approval in principle. I was wondering does anyone know the deposit exemption rules across the different banks. Basically, AIB have told us that to avail of a deposit exemption, we would need a combined disposable income of €3950 a month, after mortgage payments (which will be approx €1200 p/m) and bills. I thought we had very decent salaries and would have about €5000 net pay a month, so to hear the level for the exemption was that high kind of shocked us! I was just wondering if that is common across all banks?

We've also found our dream house, so just waiting on the letter so we can bid! We have the full deposit amount for the houses asking price, but just thinking of the extras - solicitor, stamp duty etc! And that exemption could come in really handy for that!

Thanks
Ash

MarkAnthony

Sorry to just come here and pontificate but it's strikes me as a rather odd position that someone with a decent disposable income would need a deposit exemption. Surely the best thing to do would be a buckle down and not go on holiday/make sacrifices elsewhere?

I'm not one for jumping on this - here we go again the boom 2.0 bandwagon - but it does seem to me bad habits are creeping back in. CB rules are there for a reason, all banks will have exceptions for, potentially, good customers (read with money) but as far as they go this one seems a bit odd. Even bidding on a €1m house, assuming you have 200K deposit one would assume even if the house went 10% over to €1.1m that's only €20,000 in additional deposit which be 5 months on 4K disposable. I'm taking disposable in the strict sense of the phrase where as perhaps the banks are not.

ash xxx

Thanks for your reply MarkAnthony. We have indeed been cutting back since the start of the year, and have not had a holiday, trips away, frequent nights out. We moved back in with my mother at the start of the year in order to save more as we were being crucified on rent. We live off approx €500 each after savings and bills, but the area we are looking to buy is quite expensive.

I am just looking to see if anyone knows if the exemption levels across the banks differ and if so what are the amounts.

Thanks
Ash

MarkAnthony

If it's anything like what we experienced on income, it's going to be on a discretionary basis. Your best bet is a good broker (Killers springs to mind - do a search on this forum) or contact the banks individually. I'd be very dubious on relying on anything not coming directly from a bank's underwriters. Even the agents selling mortgages are exactly that, sales agents, not everything promised is binding, what someone else got might not be what you're offered.

Angel2016

I have a mortgage with KBC on my apartment which is being sold at the moment I am sale agreed but when I called up to ask about what we need etc.. to buy a house I was more or less told to read between the lines and that some exceptions are given out in the first two quarters of the year and to get my application in before June which of course I didn't as the apt wasn't sold and I was not sure what money I would get from that if anything really plus we didn't have the deposit needed to apply but I just wanted to know where I stood, some brokers promise you the sun, moon and stars and can never deliver on their promises others are straight forward and tell you the truth.

I think all banks vary with their decisions and its on an individual basis really