121.—(1) Subject to subsection (3), a borrower may, at any time before the time agreed, repay to the mortgage lender the whole or any part of a housing loan and shall not be liable to pay any redemption fee in relation to the loan or any part of the loan.

(2) The exemption from redemption fees in subsection (1) shall not apply to a housing loan in respect of which the mortgage or loan agreement provides that the rate of interest:

(a) may not be changed, or

(b) may not be changed over a period of at least one year, or

(c) may not, for a period of at least 5 years, exceed the rate applicable on the date of the making of the said agreement by more than 2 per cent.

(3) The exemption from redemption fees in subsection (1) shall apply at any time during the period of the loan at which the period referred to in paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (2) have elapsed.

F191[(4) The Minister for Finance may, after consulting the Minister for the Environment and Local Government and the Bank, make a regulation varying—

(a) the period referred to in subsection (2)(b), or

(b) the period or years or the rate of interest, referred to in subsection (2)(c).]

(5) A mortgage agent shall, where a redemption fee is payable on a housing loan by virtue of subsection (2), ensure that a statement to that effect, specifying how the amount of such fee is to be calculated, shall be included in or attached to:

(a) any information document which refers or relates to such a loan,

(b) any application form issued for the purpose of applying for such a loan or, where application for the loan is made otherwise than by way of an application form, such a statement shall be sent to the applicant within 10 days of the receipt of the application,

(c) any document sent to the applicant approving the loan, and

(d) any communication in relation to a variation of, or any offer to vary, the terms of the housing loan which would have the effect of making the loan liable to a redemption fee in accordance with subsection (2).

(6) In this section “redemption fee” means, in relation to a housing loan, any sum in addition to principal and any interest due on such principal (without regard to the fact of the redemption of the loan) at the time of redemption of the whole or part of the loan.