MortgageWise.ie

Where every figure comes from

Checked 21 Oct 2026rules version 2026-10.

Nothing on this site is typed into a page. Every tool and guide reads one rules file in which each block names its Act or operator, its sources and the date it was checked. This page is that file, in words, with the county, lender and cost files beside it.

How the reading is done

  • Revenue, the Central Bank, the CSO, the ECB, the Oireachtas and the scheme operators are read with an honest user agent, never a headless browser or proxy.
  • Citizens Information, seai.ie, the Housing Agency and gov.ie’s Budget documents refuse automated reads and are read by hand; nothing is scraped from them.
  • Lenders’ rates are read from each lender’s own page, weekly, and every row carries the date; nothing is taken from a comparison site.
  • The rules file is re-read against the sources each quarter, on every Budget and Finance Act, every ECB decision, and every 1 January. A weekly check flags anything not verified in 90 days.
  • Some blocks below are marked as awaiting a hand check: their figures came from a secondary source or a page that refused automated reads.

The Central Bank mortgage measures

Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48) (Housing Loan Requirements) Regulations, as amended by S.I. 141/2026

Help to Buy

To be checked by hand

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, section 477C, as amended

The €35,000 maximum and the 7 October 2026 date are on Revenue's own page. The €500,000 cap and the 70% rule are in the Tax and Duty Manual (Part 15-01-46), not on the summary page; confirm there.

The First Home Scheme

To be checked by hand

First Home Scheme DAC (the State with participating lenders)

The ceilings were read from firsthomescheme.ie on 21 October 2026 (no effective date shown; reviewed twice a year). The 1 June 2027 end date is the last confirmed extension.

The Local Authority Home Loan

To be checked by hand

Housing Loans Regulations 2021 as amended by the Housing Loans (Amendment) Regulations 2026

The rates page on localauthorityhomeloan.ie is undated; the ceilings from 1 April 2026 come from the 2026 guidance note and the gov.ie release, and the full list of local authorities in each band must be read from the note.

Stamp duty

Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, section 31A and Schedule 1, as amended by the Finance Act 2024

Capital gains tax on a home

To be checked by hand

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, sections 28, 601 and 604

The 31% rate from 7 October 2026 is Budget 2027's announcement, confirmed in several firms' notes; Revenue's own examples still showed 33% on 21 October 2026. Set `status` to enacted when the Finance Act 2026 is signed.

Local Property Tax

To be checked by hand

Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 as amended by the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Act 2025

Bands 1 to 5 and 19 were read from Revenue's page on 21 October 2026; bands 6 to 18 are interpolated at the published step of about €95 and must be checked against Revenue's table before launch.

Building Energy Rating

European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 243/2012) as amended

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant

To be checked by hand

The Department of Housing, administered by each local authority (Croí Cónaithe)

The amounts are confirmed on local authority pages; the extension to 2030 and the clawback periods come from the Department's release and must be confirmed in the current scheme outline.

The rent tax credit

To be checked by hand

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, section 473B

The mortgage interest tax credit

To be checked by hand

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, section 473C (temporary)

Switching and the Consumer Protection Code

To be checked by hand

Consumer Protection Code 2025 (in force 24 March 2026)

The buying process

To be checked by hand

The selling process

To be checked by hand

Mortgage protection

To be checked by hand

Consumer Credit Act 1995, section 126

The market

To be checked by hand

The market, from the BPFI and the CSO

Key dates

The counties

26 counties, version 2026-10, checked 2026-10-21.

The lenders

10 lenders and 227 products, version 2026-10-21, checked 2026-10-21; each row links the lender’s own page.

Typical costs

Version 2026-10, checked 2026-10-21. Each item names its source; items marked as planning assumptions are replaced by partner quotes as they come in.

The tracker and the updates log

The rule-change tracker and the updates log (checked 2026-10-21) may cite only these hosts; the tests fail on any other:

Official record
irishstatutebook.ie, oireachtas.ie, api.oireachtas.ie, gov.ie, revenue.ie, centralbank.ie, cso.ie, citizensinformation.ie, firsthomescheme.ie, localauthorityhomeloan.ie, housingagency.ie, seai.ie, ecb.europa.eu, propertyserviceregulatoryauthority.ie, psr.ie, psra.ie, tailte.ie, ccpc.ie, fspo.ie, mabs.ie, lawsociety.ie, lsra.ie, rtb.ie, eur-lex.europa.eu, budget.gov.ie, affordablehomes.ie, lda.ie
Press report
rte.ie, irishtimes.com, irishexaminer.com, thejournal.ie, breakingnews.ie, independent.ie, businesspost.ie, irishlegal.com
Organisation
bpfi.ie, scsi.ie, riai.ie, engineersireland.ie, ipav.ie, brokersireland.ie, insuranceireland.eu, daft.ie, myhome.ie, esri.ie, bonkers.ie, moneyguideireland.com
Lender's own page
aib.ie, bankofireland.com, ptsb.ie, ebs.ie, havenmortgages.ie, avantmoney.ie, icsmortgages.ie, moco.ie, nuamoney.ie, creditunion.ie

Helplines and official routes

  • Free help lines (MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service), Abhaile, Insolvency Service of Ireland, Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman), checked 2026-10-21.
  • Official routes (CCPC: mortgage comparisons; Central Bank: the mortgage measures; Central Bank: check a firm is regulated; Revenue: Help to Buy; Revenue: stamp duty on property; First Home Scheme; Local Authority Home Loan; Property Price Register; SEAI: BER certificates; Central Credit Register: your credit report), checked 2026-10-21.

Information, not advice. Where a page and the source differ, the source is right. Corrections to hello@mortgagewise.ie with the page and the source. Last checked 2026-10-21. MortgageWise is an independent site, not connected with the Central Bank of Ireland, Revenue, the Housing Agency, any local authority, any lender or any Government department. It is not a lender, a mortgage broker, a credit or insurance intermediary, a solicitor, a tax adviser or a financial adviser. It covers the Republic of Ireland only. Before you sign anything, talk to a solicitor and, for advice on a mortgage, to an advisor regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.