Thank you CCOVICH. appreciate your reply.
Yeah, I believe he does appreciate this. He didn't ask, we offered and he (hopefully) will be in a position to take over the loan within 2 yrs - at least that's the agreement. He has already saved quite a bit while working for the last 18mths.so he hopes to put that towards the fees.
Have looked at Ulster bank rates and NIB for LTV mortgage and it appears NIB is a lot cheaper. If I go with Ulster I'm locked in for 5 yrs whereas there is no such restriction with NIB. However, I think they insist on you opening a current account. Are there any catches in this new NIB mortgage that are not obvious?
By the way, one bank told me I could apply for a top up mortgage for "building an extension" and that I didn't have to declare what I spent the money on!