A mortgage top-up is a loan that allows you to borrow more money against the current value of your home to spend on things like improving your home.

FHS criteria for mortgage top-ups

  • The purpose of the mortgage top-up must be for home improvements, medical, educational needs, or to redeem (buy back) the equity share partially / in full
  • Customers must retain a minimum of 10% equity interest in the property after the mortgage top-up

Customers who have an equity facility with the FHS are allowed in all circumstances to apply for a mortgage top-up with a Participating Lender subject to that lender’s mortgage top-up criteria and application process.

If you are applying for a top-up and have availed of the New Build or Tenant Home Purchase products, you are required to notify us at the time of applying for the top-up. However, if you are topping up to pay for a self-build cost overrun, you do not need to notify us at the time of applying for the top-up. Instead, you must notify us once the build is complete to allow us to recalculate the FHS equity percentage and the site percentage. See Product type - Self-build (own site) for more information.

You can notify the FHS of your intention to top-up your mortgage by completing a Mortgage top-up Notification form which can be accessed through the FHS customer portal and providing us with supporting documentation (if required).

Customers who have an equity facility with the FHS and want to switch and top-up their mortgage, as part of the switching process, should see switching your mortgage for more information on the steps involved in this process.

Customers who are topping up to pay for a self-build cost overrun, should see Product type - Self-build (own site) for more information.

Mortgage Top-Up Notification

Login to your FHS customer portal

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Login

Complete the Mortgage Top-Up Notification form

  • Download from the customer portal
  • Tell us the Purpose of your top-up
  • Tell us the top-up Amount
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Complete

Upload (or you can send to us by post) Mortgage Top-Up Notification Form and any requested Supporting Documentation

  • Property valuation
  • Annual Mortgage statement
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Upload

Assessment of the top-up purpose and your retained equity percentage post top-up is carried out by the FHS. Following this, you will:

  • Receive an FHS letter of No Objection or Objection to your mortgage top-up notification.
  • Share this letter with your lender.
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Assessment

WARNING: We strongly recommend that you seek advice from an independent financial adviser and legal adviser if applying for a First Home Scheme product.

WARNING: Property prices can go up and down. As the equity facility is linked to the value of your home, any change in property prices will affect any partial or final redemption amounts. If property prices increase/decrease over time, the percentage equity you have to redeem will remain the same but the € amount will increase/decrease. See examples in the case of a price increase below:

Example 1: Home Purchase (private development)
Customer purchases a property for €350,000, availing of €35,000 from the First Home Scheme (FHS) which means the FHS has a 10% FHS Equity Share in your home.
Sometime in the future you decide to buy out the FHS Equity Share. The home is now valued at €400,000. As the FHS Equity Share is unchanged at 10%, you will now need €40,000 plus any accrued service charges payable, to redeem the FHS Equity Share in the home

Example 2: Self-build (own site)
Customer owns a site valued at €100,000 and builds a house on that site at a cost of €300,000.Customer avails of €30,000 from the First Home Scheme (FHS) which means the FHS has a 10% FHS Equity Share in your house built on the site.  

Sometime in the future you decide to buy out the FHS Equity Share. The property, including both house and original site is now valued at €500,000.  
At the time of build, the site value represented 25% of the total value of the home (i.e.€100,000) and this 25% will now be discounted from the current value before calculating the FHS equity amount to be redeemed (€500,000 less current site value of €125,000, equals €375,000).  As the FHS Equity Share is unchanged at 10%, you will now need €37,500 (10% of €375,000) plus any accrued service charges payable, to redeem the FHS Equity Share in the home.

WARNING: The First Home Scheme is not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and the equity product is not governed by the Central Bank and its statutory codes of conduct and/or other regulations to include the Consumer Protection Code. However, this does not affect your rights under consumer law.