Home buying and selling glossary

Feeling confused by real estate jargon? You’re not alone. Buying or selling a home involves a lot of technical and legal terms that are tough to grasp.

Help is here. We’ve created an easy-to-use glossary that makes it simple to understand it all.

Whether you’re a first-time buyer or selling your home, use our glossary to help you through the process each step of the way.

A

Adopted highway: A road or path which is maintained by the local authority rather than privately.

B

Budget: The purchase price you can afford for a property based on your savings, income, and how much you can borrow.

Buyer: The person(s) purchasing a property.

C

Chain: When a series of property sales are interconnected and dependent on one another for progression.

Completion date: When the legal transfer of property ownership takes place, and the keys are handed over between seller and buyer.

Condition of sale: Terms in a property contract that must be met before a purchase can be legally complete.

Conveyancer: A qualified professional who handles the legal administrative process of transferring ownership of a property between a buyer and seller.

Conveyancing: The legal work involved in buying and selling properties.

Cost protection: No excess insurance cover to protect your upfront conveyancing, transaction, and lender fees in case anything goes wrong.

Covenant: A clause in a property deed that places restrictions or obligations that the buyer must comply with, usually passed on to all subsequent owners.

D

Deeds: Legal documents assigning/proving ownership of a property and/or land.

Deposit: Confusingly, this can mean two things 1. A sum of money that represents the personal capital that the buyer(s) is putting towards purchasing a property. 2. The amount you pay on exchange of contracts (usually 10%).

Draft contract: An unconfirmed version of the contract.

E

Energy performance certificate (EPC): This provides an energy performance rating for a specific property. Ratings vary from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient).

Environmental searches: Environmental searches check for potential contamination, flood risks, and other environmental factors that have or may impact a property.

Equity: This is the difference between the value of the property and the amount of mortgage owed.

Estate agents: Work on behalf of buyers or sellers to appraise, market, and sell properties for commission fees.

Exchange deposit: The exchange deposit is the a % of the property price you pay (typically 10%) when contracts are signed, and the sale becomes legally binding.

Exchange of contracts: A key step in the conveyancing process is where signed contracts are swapped between buyers and sellers, agreeing to make the purchase and sale legally binding.

F

First-time buyer: A person(s) who is purchasing a home for the first time and has never owned a property before.

Fixed fee quote: A fee for conveyancing services that means the total fee amount is set and guaranteed upfront rather than charged on an hourly basis.

Fixed-rate mortgage: A mortgage loan on a home with an interest rate that remains constant for a specific period, typically between 2-7 years, providing certainty around monthly repayments.

Freehold: Ownership that means you own the home and the land it is built on for an unlimited time.

Freeholder: The person(s) who own the freehold.

G

Gazumping: When a seller accepts a higher offer from someone else and withdraws from the initially agreed-upon sale of their property.

Gazundering: When a buyer lowers their offer price for a property just before contracts are exchanged after initially agreeing to a higher amount.

Gifted deposit: Money that is gifted to a home buyer, usually from friends or family, to put towards their deposit to purchase a property.

Ground rent: An annual fee that leaseholders pay to the freeholder or landlord who owns the land the leasehold property is on.

H

Held to order: If your deposit is held to order, we will keep it and transfer that alongside the remaining funds on completion.

Help to buy ISA: A now-closed government savings scheme for first-time buyers that provides a 25% bonus on savings (up to £3,000) when used to purchase a first home. While no new accounts can be opened, existing account holders can continue saving £200 a month until November 2029.

I

Indemnity insurance: Covers unknown risk materialising related to legal ownership defects or limitations with a property that arise after purchase.

Independent financial advisor (IFA): An independent professional who provides financial advice from across the market to help a buyer select suitable options based on circumstances.

Instruction: The legal authority provided by a client to a solicitor/licenced conveyancer to act on their behalf in a property transaction.

Interest rate: The percentage charged for the money you are borrowing.

Interest-only mortgage: A home loan in which the borrower pays only the interest on the balance for a set period, typically 5-10 years.

J

Joint mortgage: A home loan with two or more borrowers who are jointly responsible for repaying the debt.

Joint Tenants: Where two or more people have equal rights to the whole property and the property automatically goes to the other owners if you die.

L

Land registry: The government database that records information on property ownership and transactions in England and Wales.

Land transaction tax (LTT): This is tax paid when purchasing a property in Wales above a certain price threshold, calculated as a percentage of the purchase price.

Landlord: An individual that owns a freehold property that they lease or rent out to a tenant to occupy.

Leasehold: Where a person(s) purchases a property for a certain period, but not the land it is built on. Leaseholders do not own their property outright.

Lifetime ISA: A government savings scheme for first-time buyers ages 18 – 39, where the government adds a 25% bonus to your savings (up to £1,00 per year) when used to purchase your first home worth up to £450,000.

Litigation: The process of pursuing legal action through the court system to enforce a right or claim compensation, with cases involving a claimant making a claim against a defendant.

Local authority search: A search into public records held by the local council that tells you about planning permissions, building regulations, conservation areas, listed buildings, and highways.

M

Maintenance or service charge: A periodic payment made by leasehold owners to contribute towards the upkeep, maintenance, and repair of common areas or shared facilities.

Memorandum of Sale: A preliminary document outlining the terms and conditions of a property transaction between buyer and seller, outlining purchase price, property description, and other key points. It is not legally binding.

Mining search: A search to check whether the property could be impacted by past or present mining.

Mortgage broker: A professional who is hired to facilitate loans by assessing a borrower’s financial situation and matching them with appropriate lenders and loan options.

Mortgage deed: A legally binding document that confirms you are entering into a contract with your mortgage provider, secured against your property.

Mortgage deposit: Your mortgage deposit refers to the total amount of cash you’re contributing towards a home purchase.

Mortgage offer: Official confirmation from a lender that they will lend you the money to purchase a property.

Mortgage: A loan that is used to finance the purchase of a property.

N

New build: Where a property being bought or sold is a brand new property.

O

Offer accepted: When a seller has agreed to the terms presented by the buyer in their offer to purchase a property.

Offer: A bid is made from a buyer to a seller to purchase their property.

Off-plan purchase: Buying a property before it's built, based on developer plans and specifications rather than a completed home you can view.

P

Planning permission:  Approval by the planning authority for the construction or extension/alteration of a property or a change of its use.

Post-completion: The stage after a property sale is legally finalised and you have had the keys. During this period a buyer is registering their purchase at the Land Registry and the seller’s conveyancer might need to assist them with that.

Pre-completion: This is the stage after contracts are signed and exchanged but before the official completion of the sale.

Pre-exchange: The stage before contracts have been signed and exchanged, where the buyer conducts surveys, applies for mortgages, and negotiates the offer.

Property lawyer: A legal professional who specialises in real estate law and provides services related to property transactions.

R

Registered title: Where the Land Registry holds a computerised copy of your deeds.

Remortgaging: The process of switching a mortgage from one lender to another, is typically done to obtain better loan terms or rates.

Reservation fee: An initial non-refundable payment to a builder or developer for a new property.

S

Sale agreed: This means the seller has accepted an offer from a buyer to purchase the property under specific terms and conditions. 

Searches: Inquiries made into various public and private records regarding a property to uncover potential risks or issues.

Seller: The current owner of a property who wishes to transfer ownership and sell their property to a buyer.

Shared ownership: Allows buyers to purchase a share of a property, typically 25% to 75% and pay rent on the remaining share not owned.

Snagging: The process of checking a new build for any defects, incomplete work, or faults just before completion of purchase.

Sold subject to contract (SSTC): This indicates that a property sale has been agreed upon but is pending signed contracts so not yet legally binding.

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT): This is tax paid when purchasing a property in England above a certain price threshold, calculated as a percentage of the purchase price.

Survey: An inspection by a qualified surveyor to evaluate the condition of a home for potential issues, defects, risks, and repairs needed.

T

Tenants in common:  Two or more owners of the property own specific shares in a property and the property does not automatically pass to the others if you die.

Title deeds: The legal document which shows the ownership of land and property. 

TP1: A Land Registry form that is used to transfer part of a property rather than the whole thing.

TR1: A land registry form that is used when the whole of a title must be transferred or when a property is being registered for the first time.

Transfer deeds: The legal handing over of a property's title deed documents from the seller to the buyer upon completion of a sale.

Transfer of equity: The change of names on a property's mortgage title without an actual property sale taking place, such as removing or adding a spouse's name.

U

Unregistered title: Where your title is not computerised at the Land Registry, and you must prove ownership based on original paper deeds.

V

Variable rate mortgage:  A loan with an interest rate that fluctuates periodically in line with market rates, meaning payments could go up or down over the loan term.

W

Water and drainage search: Conducted to let you know whether the property is connected to main water and sewerage, and who owns them. If it isn’t, then there could be a private water supply or sewerage and your conveyancer will find out who owns it and what rights the property has.