Costs of buying a home (2024)

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Introduction

Deposit

The amount of money that you can get as a mortgage loan is governed byCentral Bank lending limits, so you will need to pay the balance of thepurchase price as a deposit. In general, you will need a deposit of at least10% of the purchase price - and possibly more, depending on your situation. SeeTaking out amortgage for details of these rules.

If the mortgageis from a local authority, you also normally need to have a deposit of 10%of the purchase price.

If you are a first-time buyer purchasing a newly built home or building yourown home, you may qualify for the Help-to-Buy(HTB) incentive which can be used to help you with the deposit.

Fees

Lending agency fees

These may include an application fee, as well as the costs of the lender'ssurvey and searches. There may also be fees for mortgage loan costs and anindemnity bond to ensure that if the lender has to repossess the property itwon't make a loss.

Legal fees

There is no fixed rate of charges for legalfees. Solicitors can offer competitive rates for conveyancing work - thelegal work associated with buying a home. Some may charge a flat fee and somemay charge a percentage of the purchase price of the home. You can shop aroundto find a solicitorwho will charge the lowest possible fee.

There may be other costs associated with the legal process, including Land Registry fees and fees for legalsearches. ValueAdded Tax must also be paid on the legal fees.

You can find more information about legal costs and the information yoursolicitor must give you about these charges in the Legal Services RegulatoryAuthority’s Guide toLegal Charges.

Buyer's survey fee

If you want, you can get your own independent survey of the property toidentify any defects. This survey is separate to the survey carried out by thelending agency. There will be a fee for an independent survey and the cost canvary considerably.

If you want to arrange an independent survey, you can find a surveyor on thewebsite of the Society of Chartered SurveyorsIreland (SCSI). The SCSI is the professional body for charteredsurveyors.

Mortgage protection insurance

Mortgage protection insurance isdesigned to pay the balance of your mortgage if you die before the loan isfully repaid. In general, lenders are legally obliged to make sure that youhave enough mortgage protection cover when you take out a home loan, althoughyou do not have to arrange this insurance directly through them. Premiums varybut always reduce over the life of the loan as the amount of the loan reduces.

Local authorities run their own collective MortgageProtection Insurance (MPI) scheme and people borrowing under the LocalAuthority Home Loan must take out insurance through this scheme. For moreinformation on this see the FAQ’s on the Local AuthorityHome Loan website.

Home insurance

Stamp duty

Local Property Tax