A self-build mortgage can finance a permanent modular home in Ireland once the lender has accepted the specific building system and payment schedule. BioBuilds asks for 10% to reserve your offer, 40% for materials, 40% for production and 10% at delivery. Agree the drawdown stages with your lender before you sign.
Before signing, establish both mortgage eligibility and the cash available before delivery. A general approval in principle does not confirm that a lender accepts the BioBuilds system or will pay its factory invoices. This guide covers lending limits, drawdowns, the full project budget and the timing of Help to Buy and First Home Scheme funding.
What do Irish lenders need for a modular home?
Ask the lender whether it will assess your proposed factory-built home under its self-build product. Its acceptance and document requirements must be confirmed for your project. Prepare:
- Planning permission, or evidence of a lawful exemption that the lender expressly accepts.
- Proof of site ownership or a purchase contract, with a title and security arrangement acceptable to the lender.
- An initial valuation and a report from your architect, engineer or surveyor on the lender's form.
- The supplier's offer: price, scope, finish level and payment schedule.
- A budget for everything outside the house price, often with a contingency.
- Your income, existing debts and deposit.
As checked on 16.10.2026, the Central Bank's mortgage measures set standard limits of four times gross income for first-time buyers, three and a half times for second and subsequent buyers, and 90% loan-to-value for both owner-occupier groups. Lenders have limited allowances above these limits; borrowers have no entitlement to one. Affordability and the lender's property assessment still apply.
Borrowing example: the Central Bank illustrates that first-time buyers with combined gross income of €100,000 can borrow up to €400,000 under the standard income limit. That does not establish the loan available for your build: the valuation, project cost, debts and lender assessment also matter.
For a home in a family garden, confirm title and mortgage security with your solicitor before relying on a self-build loan. Class 3A is a conditional planning exemption, not a lending or Help to Buy approval. See our garden-home exemption guide.
How do self-build mortgage stages fit a factory-built home?
AIB publishes four to six certified stages, requested through the borrower's solicitor. Other lenders set their own stages and completion requirements. This describes a self-build product, not confirmation that AIB accepts BioBuilds homes. Obtain written acceptance of the proposed system and ask whether any funds can be released against factory work.
BioBuilds manufactures the home off site while groundworks can proceed separately. The lender's valuation of work on the plot may therefore differ from the amount already due to the manufacturer.
BioBuilds' payment schedule reflects that:
| Instalment | Share of the house price | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Reservation | 10% | When you sign and reserve your offer |
| Materials | 40% | When your production slot is allocated |
| Production | 40% | When the start of production is notified |
| Delivery | 10% | When the home is available at the agreed destination; inspection takes place on the trailer before unloading |
The material and production payments complete your production reservation, subject to readiness and available slots. This means 90% of the house price falls due before delivery. Ask the lender to confirm in writing the amount, evidence and release date for each instalment. If it cannot fund a factory stage, agree another source of funds and any repayment terms before signing.
Cash-flow example: the reservation and materials payments total 10% + 40% = 50% of the house price; the production payment brings that to 90%. If no mortgage funds are released towards the house before delivery, you need that 90% from other confirmed funds, plus site bills already due. The final 10% is payable at the destination, before completion documents or a final valuation may be available. Confirm how any lender retention will be covered.
Bring the payment schedule to your first meeting with the lender or broker. Confirm a funding source for every instalment before signing; mortgage approval alone does not make the factory payments available.
What else needs financing?
- The house. BioBuilds' Irish prices start from €105,000 for Wanderlust in Exterior Finished and from €163,000 in Turnkey, including 23% Irish VAT. Transport to Ireland is included. On-site assembly is arranged separately by the client with BioBuilds' local partners at no extra cost. The displayed Exterior Finished package includes the preselected plumbing and electrical panel options; ventilation is optional.
- The site works. The engineered foundation, crane, access works, electricity connection, and public water and wastewater connections where available. Budget for approved private systems where needed. These costs are quoted for your site.
- Planning and building control. The planning application, design and certification fees, and your council's development contributions.
- The site, if you are buying it, with stamp duty and legal fees.
Add a contingency agreed with your lender and design team, remaining interior work, insurance, valuations, finance costs and temporary accommodation. Kitchen furniture and appliances are not included in BioBuilds Turnkey. Check for overlap with the house and site quotes. Our guide to modular homes in Ireland covers local project costs.
AIB states that a secured site can count as the deposit. Its value is not cash for BioBuilds invoices. Ask how the lender values the site, when you must use your savings and how much cash remains available for the factory stages.
Compare mortgage offers using the APRC, total repayment, fixed-rate period, valuation and legal fees, early-repayment terms and the cost of any interim finance. Confirm the offer expiry, first-drawdown deadline and completion deadline in writing.
How does Help to Buy work for a modular home?
As checked on 16.10.2026, Revenue sets the further enhanced Help to Buy refund at the lowest of €35,000, 10% of the purchase value or self-build approved valuation, and qualifying Income Tax and DIRT paid over the previous four years. For self-builds, the €35,000 cap requires the first mortgage drawdown to fall between 07.10.2026 and 31.12.2029.
Eligibility conditions include first-time purchaser status for all applicants, tax compliance, a home valued at no more than €500,000, a qualifying mortgage of at least 70% of the approved valuation and occupation as your main home for five years. The property must also meet Revenue's conditions, including construction subject to Irish VAT. Modular construction does not itself establish eligibility.
Apply through myAccount or ROS. For a self-build, the claim requires evidence of the first mortgage drawdown, the loan documents and valuation; a registered solicitor verifies it. The refund goes to a bank account you hold with your mortgage provider. Do not count it as cash available for the reservation before the first drawdown.
The First Home Scheme's self-build product may cover up to 30% of eligible build cost, or 20% when using Help to Buy, subject to local build-cost ceilings and participating-lender requirements. Apply before construction starts; site purchase is excluded. It takes an equity share, and service charges begin in year six. For drawdown, your solicitor must confirm the first mortgage stage has been released and a certified report must show at least 50% of the works requiring FHS funding are complete. It therefore does not automatically fund the first factory payments. Read our First Home Scheme and Help to Buy guides.
Financing step by step
To see the price of your layout and finish with Irish VAT and transport included, configure your home.
