Glossary

Apartment
A single storey self-contained housing unit occupying part of a building.
Agency sales fee
A fixed amount or percentage of the value of your home paid to an estate agent when they sell your home.
Arrangement fee
A fee to be charged by the lender when applying for a mortgage. Arrangement fees are usually paid on completion of the mortgage and anything from £100 to £350 is fairly common.
Back Garden Scheme
Development schemes utilising domestic gardens
Boundaries
These are the areas around a property which identify the start and end of the land and ownership.
Brown Land
Land that has been previously developed.
Building survey
Also known as a full survey, this involves an extensive investigation of the property and a thorough examination of all the major aspects and minor details that are visible.
Bungalow
Typically single or one and a half storey houses.
Cashback
Where cash is made available to the purchaser after Completion.
Completion
On completion of the sale, your solicitor forwards the remaining balance of the purchase price to the seller's solicitor. You then have the right to take occupancy of the property and are free to move in.
Contract
A legally binding agreement or set of 'promises'.
Conveyancing
The act of transferring the legal title in a property from one person to another.
Deposit
The money required up front when purchasing a property.
Detached
Houses standing as a separate building with no adjoining properties.
En suite
A bathroom or cloakroom that adjoins a bedroom directly by a door.
Estate Agent
The representative of the person selling a property.
Exchange
The point at which the purchase of a property becomes legally binding.
Green Land
Previously undeveloped land.
Handover
The point after Completion where you will receive the keys to your property.
IFA
An independent Financial Advisor able to give advice on a varying range of financial products.
Mortgage
The loan that most people use to fund the purchase of a property in which the property becomes the security for the loan.
Mortgage Offer
The offer to borrow an amount of money from a financial institution. This is not a guarantee of a loan but an offer which is subject to certain requirements being satisfied.
Part Exchange
A used property that has been taken as part payment against a new property.
Planning Consent
Where permission has been given by the local council to agree that certain building work can be carried out.
Semi Detached
A property adjoined by only one other property.
Settlement
When the land upon which a new property has settled after construction, very small cracks can occur. This is very common and not the fault of the builder. It can be easily rectified.
Shrinkage
When a new property 'dries out', shrinkage commonly occurs. This is not the fault of the builder and is easily rectified.
Site Manager
The person responsible for managing the construction of a particular site. He will report to the Construction Manager.
Snagging
The production of a list of construction issues at the end of a build process.
Solicitor
Legal professional who is instructed to act on behalf of the buyer in the purchase of a home. They check the legal position of the house, carry out a local authority search, land registry searches and oversee the smooth exchange of contracts between concerned parties.
Stamp Duty
Stamp Duty Land Tax is charged on land transactions such as the buying and selling of a residential houses. There are different bands of tax relating to the purchase price of the property.
Terraced
Where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls. the first and last of these is called and End terrace.
Townhouse
Usually properties with three storeys. Quite often these are also terraced.