As Ireland’s only 100% dedicated mortgage lender an EBS Mortgage has always been a popular choice for Irish home buyers, but is an EBS mortgage good value? In our EBS Mortgage Ultimate Review – Ireland 2023 we give you the inside track on all things EBS mortgage and what your options and alternatives are.
With EBS being owned by one of the Irish ‘pillar banks’ AIB getting an EBS mortgage has always felt like a safe mortgage option.
Digging a little deeper though EBS Mortgage rates right now are the highest in the market and there are better options for most people to choose.
As a lender that has to support a substantial branch network and expensive legacy tracker mortgages, EBS have some of the highest rates in the market, with only PTSB and BoI coming close to the lenders high mortgage rates.
In the introductory fixed rate period you will end up paying around 1.5% more than with some other lenders and after that period the difference is even larger with EBS charging rates of 3.7%-4.1% on their ‘follow on’ variable rates compared to 2.03%-2.25% with others.
EBS do offer more in cash back, a once off payment when the mortgage is drawn down, than most other lenders, but what they give in cash back is way less than what they take with the higher introductory and follow on interest rates.
The difference in interest rates might not seem that much at first, but it really mounts up over the course of a mortgage term.
Read on to get all the facts and figures on how much seemingly cash back offers really cost you and what better alternatives are available.
You can check out how an EBS mortgage compares to others using our calculator here.
Read on to find out if a EBS mortgage makes sense for you and the other options for a great rate and easy approval.
- BoI Mortgage Rate and Product Overview – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
- Pro’s & Con’s – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
- Recommendation – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
- Alternatives – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
- In a Nutshell – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
EBS Mortgage Rate and Product Overview – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
EBS Mortgage Product
EBS are selective about what they lend for.
- They offer residential mortgages of more than €25,000 only, including first time buyers, home movers, buy to let and switchers.
- EBS also offer staged payment self build mortgages.
- They do not offer mortgages to people moving to Ireland from abroad.
They will also do top up mortgages for home improvements.
EBS Mortgage Approval Credit Policy
EBS has a reputation for being pretty flexible when it comes to their credit policy. The higher rates they charge seem to give their credit teams a bit more room to move than most. That said though, if you are have a more shaky or unusual credit history Finance Ireland are also a good option, without the gold plated price tag.
One thing to watch out for though is over recent years the time taken to approve a loan has extended to a couple of weeks a more, which can be a problem if you need your money in a hurry get hold of your dream home.
They will also allow you to borrow more than 3.5 times your income if you can show you have sufficient disposable income. These mortgages are known as ‘exceptions’ as they are exceptions to the Central Bank lending limits.
EBS Mortgage Rate
In the 3 year fixed rate mortgage comparison table below the EBS mortgage comes out in the worst 3, but unlike some of the other lenders they will give you 2% of your mortgage loan back when you draw down your loan as well as a further 1% after 5 years.
| 3 Year Fixed APRC | Avant Money | ICS Mortgages | Finance Ireland | Haven Mortgages | AIB Mortgage | EBS Mortgage | Permanent TSB | Bank of Ireland | Bank of Ireland (Re-fix) |
| Up to 50% LTV | 3.87% | – | 6.26% | 4.00% | 3.55% | 4.20% | 4.21% | 4.90% | 4.40% |
| Up to 60% LTV | 3.87% | – | 6.69% | 4.00% | 3.74% | 4.20% | 4.21% | 4.90% | 4.40% |
| Up to 70% LTV | 3.89% | 6.16% | 6.42% | 4.00% | 3.74% | 4.20% | 4.32% | 4.90% | 4.50% |
| Up to 80% LTV | 4.06% | 6.39% | 6.42% | 4.00% | 3.63% | 4.10% | 4.32% | 4.90% | 4.50% |
| Up to 90% LTV | 4.08% | 6.43% | 6.69% | 4.00% | 3.92% | 4.20% | 4.69% | 4.90% | 4.50% |
The Annual Percentage Rate Charge (APRC) represents the average rate across the lifetime of a typical mortgage and is recommended as the best rate to use for comparisons by the CCPC. [1] You can check out the APRC of all the mortgages currently on the market using our comparison tool here.
The reason the APRC, and therefore the cost of the mortgage, are so high for EBS isn’t in fact the cash back element, but the very high follow on rate after the introductory period as you can see in the table below.
| Follow on Variable Rate | Avant Money | ICS Mortgages | Finance Ireland | Haven Mortgages | AIB Mortgage | Ulster Bank | EBS Mortgage | Permanent TSB | Bank of Ireland |
| Up to 50% LTV | 3.75% | 6.20% | 6.40% | 3.75% | 3.75% | 3.50% | 4.15% | 3.80% | 3.90% |
| Up to 60% LTV | 3.75% | 5.95% | 6.20% | 3.95% | 3.95% | 3.50% | 4.15% | 4.10% | 3.90% |
| Up to 70% LTV | 3.75% | 6.95% | 6.20% | 3.95% | 3.95% | 3.70% | 4.15% | 4.20% | 4.20% |
| Up to 80% LTV | 3.95% | 6.20% | 6.20% | 4.15% | 3.95% | 3.70% | 4.15% | 4.25% | 4.20% |
| Up to 90% LTV | 3.95% | 6.20% | 5.15% | 4.15% | 4.15% | 3.90% | 3.70% | 4.30% | 4.50% |
EBS Cash Back
So how does the cash back offer stack up against those super high interest rates?
Cash back can come in really handy to pay solicitor fees etc.. and the first few years after moving in are when you are often most hard pressed financially, so is often tempting. As you can see Bank of Ireland’s cash back option looks like the most generous in the market.
| Compare Cash back | Cash back Min | Cash back Max | Cash back Conditions |
| Avant Money Mortgage | €0 | €1,500 | Switcher over €200,000 with One Mortgage |
| Haven Mortgages | €0 | €2,000 | Switcher Only |
| AIB Mortgage | €0 | €2,000 | Switcher Only |
| Permanent TSB | 0% | 2% | 2% not available to 4 year fixed term. |
| EBS Mortgage | 2% | 3% | 2% on drawdown 1% after 5 years. |
| Bank of Ireland | 2% | 3% | 2% on drawdown 1% after 5 years. |
Rates updated 26/05/23
In fact the whole cash back thing is a bit of a rip off in our view, so to be treated with care. A quick example might help illustrate why we think so.
If you take an average mortgage loan of €200,000 over 25 years, at a loan to value of 80% with a EBS 3 year fixed rate you will pay €1,066.75 on average per month, with Avant Money’s 3 year product that would be €870 a month, €196.75 a month cheaper.
So over 25 years that’s €58,940 less than with EBS in interest.
The cash back on the other hand is worth
- 2% of the €200,000 = €4,000
- 1% of the €200,000 after 5 years = €2,000
- A total of €6,000
That’s over 52 grand more expensive, taking massive amounts of cash out of your pocket in repayments.
If you don’t need the cash back to cover legal fees etc.. then we would recommend the Avant Money, however if you do then Haven are the best of the rest. Based on current rates they offer a lot better value than EBS, Permanent TSB and Bank of Ireland which also offer cash back.
Pro’s & Con’s – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
Pro’s
- The best cash back offering in the market
Con’s
- Avant Money & ICS offer much better fixed rates
- Follow on rates are the highest in the market and will cost you thousands
Recommendation – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
Due to the uncompetitive introductory and follow rates the only reason to get an EBS mortgage right now would be if you are considering switching multiple times to cash in on the cash back before switching out to avoid the super high follow on rates.
We don’t recommend this option though as we have covered in our switching article here.
If you need a cash back option to cover legal fees we would recommend Haven as their follow on rates are much lower. If you can afford to cover the legal fees yourself though, you are better off looking at Avant Money as the long term savings will out weigh the cash back saving pretty quickly.
If you can get a mortgage with Avant Money or Haven that’s a much smarter option than going with EBS.
You can a free mortgage check up to see what provider will suit you here.
Alternatives – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
In a Nutshell – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
EBS rely on customer inertia and their brand as a specialist mortgage provider to charge more than any other provider in the market.
Our recommendation is stay away, even if you are an existing customer and might be thinking better the devil you know, it’s not worth flushing thousands of Euro down the toilet in sky high interest payments.
If you can get a mortgage with Avant Money, ICS or Finance Ireland that’s a much smarter option than going with Bank of Ireland.
Avant Money, ICS Mortgages and Finance Ireland are available through brokers or through one our mortgage sherpas.
Next Steps – EBS Mortgage Review Ireland 2023
If you want to see what you could save by calculating your repayments and see all mortgage provider rates you can click here.
If you want to know more about other mortgage providers you can click here.
If you want to know more about long term fixed rate mortgages you can read our article here.
If you want to get your savings started right now, set up a free no obligation video call with a mortgage sherpa here.
