Cian Carolan

So it really does depend and it's nuanced depending on the lender and depending on whether you want to do regular or one-off lump sums.

And so it's important that before doing anything that you ask these questions.

The funny thing is, right, I've had a mortgage since 2016 and I think back to my first lender was Ulster Bank.

I called them once for a breakage fee to see how much would it cost me to break out of my fixed rate to move to a better rate.

And I found out that figure and I did something about it and that was fine.

That was the only time I contacted them and I had a mortgage with them for seven years.

I'm with my current lender now for the last three and a half years and I've never once had any engagement with them.

So there's very few things that you'll need to do with your mortgage over the years where you'll need to engage with your lender.

But overpayments is probably one of the regular ones or maybe if you want to change your direct debit date or whatever.

But

But overpayments is probably the key one.

And look, the reality is, there's a lot of people at the minute that might be listening and they're thinking, I can't even think.

I'm barely managing this repayment, let alone an overpayment.

So we are talking about those fortunate enough to do it.

But for those fortunate enough to do it, I think what's really important is that it's not just, OK, I've spare money automatically.

Now it's going to go against my mortgage.

I think it's

considering the broader spectrum of options that are available and it might still end up going towards the mortgage or maybe it might be a hybrid of part towards mortgage, part towards long-term planning, whatever it might be.

But I think particularly when you're parting with hard-earned money, it's important to do it with good consideration.

Another reason you might not overpay your mortgage is I'm planning to move house in three years time.