MOST mortgage lenders have dropped their variable interest rates in recent weeks, and many are in the process of reducing fixed rates, including the ICS Building Society and the EBS. Irish Permanent's rates have also been reduced and it has also introduced a new mortgage package. New borrowers will no longer have to pay an application, administration or acceptance fee; no legal fees will be payable to the Permanent since its solicitor will no longer be required for residential mortgages. In addition to a half a percentage point discount for the first 12 months, the Permanent is also offering a free property valuation (usually worth about £100). The company believes this will account for a savings of about £271 in fees plus an additional £250 savings on the first year of a standard £50,000 loan. The Irish Permanent has about 20 per cent of the Irish mortgage market.

Meanwhile, the ICS Building Society's reduction in its variable rate mortgage came too late to be included in our mortgage chart last week. The Society has reduced its variable rates by half a percentage point to APR 7.45 per cent. The three and five year fixed rates have also been reduced by 0.45 per cent and a 0.5 per cent respectively to APR 7.88 and APR 8.26. Irish Life Homeloans variable rate has also been reduced to APR 7.5 per cent with a monthly repayment rate of £7.14 and all the EBS's fixed rates have been reduced with APRs for the one to five year rates ranging from 7.2 per cent to 8.0 per cent.