Jargon buster
We’re always on a mission to hunt down jargon and eliminate it from our communications. But conveyancing has a long attachment to its particular brand of lingo and legal phrasing, and sometimes there’s just no avoiding it. So, for those times when we just need to insert the old-school word we thought a round up of conveyancing blurb and acronyms might be helpful.
-
Disbursements: payments we make on your behalf to third parties e.g. stamp duty or for property searches.
Stamp Duty: a tax you pay when purchasing a property; first time buyers are exempt up to £300,000. See here for a calculator on how much you’ll need to pay for your dream home.
Searches: a collection of reports about the land surrounding your new home.
Freehold: you own the building and the land in perpetuity.
Leasehold: you own the property for the length of your lease agreement, you’ll usually pay maintenance fees and annual ground rent.
Peppercorn rent: a token or nominal rent, fairly common on very long leaseholds, can be as small as £1 per annum.
Exchange: solicitors exchange contracts and your moving in date gets arranged.
Completion: you now officially own your new home!
Gazump: a seller reneges on your offer and accepts a higher offer from another buyer.
Chain: a group of buyers and sellers connected in a property chain.
Homebuyers report: a report giving an overall opinion on the condition of a property that helps you decide whether or not to go ahead with the purchase.
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS): RIC surveyors conduct homebuyers reports.
-
Mortgage in principle: a document from your lender indicating how much they will lend in order for you to purchase a property, it’s not a full loan agreement at this stage.
Mortgage valuation: an assessment undertaken by the mortgage lender to confirm a property’s value.
Mortgage broker: a person or company that arranges a mortgage between you (the borrower) and a mortgage lender.
Standard variable rate (SVR): an interest rate set by your lender. It is usually based on the Bank of England base rate and so can go up or down.
Early repayment charges (ERC): a fee payable to your mortgage lender for overpayment or leaving your deal early.
Fixed rate mortgage: means your interest rate is guaranteed for a fixed period, usually between 2 and 10 years, so your monthly repayments stay the same.
Interest only mortgage: each month you pay the interest owing, but nothing towards the loan itself. At the end of the period you owe the remaining balance in full.
Tracker mortgage: works on a variable rate by ‘tracking’ a base rate, set by the Bank of England. Your repayments may go up or down depending on current interest rates.
-
Sold subject to contract (SSTC): when an offer is accepted, a listing site will update the property to SSTC until completion.
Subject to planning permission (STPP): a property with potential to renovate or convert may have this tag included on its page.
Want a chat or a quote?
Get in touch todayWe could go on indefinitely, and it’s likely you’ll see this page being updated every now and then. If you think we’ve missed anything do let us know – we’re always happy to explain any confusing conveyancing terminology. In fact, it brings us joy!
Home move FAQ
If you’re looking for more advice on the home move process, and need help understanding the complex language you may encounter when buying or selling a property, our home move FAQ contains a ton of useful facts that you may find useful.
Select a question type
-
If you do not already have a Help to Buy ISA account, then it is too late to open one as the scheme was closed to new accounts at midnight on 30 November 2019. If you have already opened a Help to Buy ISA, you will be able to continue saving into your account until November 2029.
-
The Government bonus is not automatically added to your Help To Buy ISA account. It is only paid when you use the savings to buy a qualifying home and is claimed during the conveyancing process. The solicitor acting for you will claim the bonus between exchange of contracts and completion of the purchase. The process takes time and will require action to be taken by you. It is important, therefore, that you tell your solicitor about your Help to Buy ISA as soon as the conveyancing process starts. If you do not and the strict deadlines imposed by the scheme are not met, you may lose the bonus.
-
To qualify for the Government Help To Buy scheme you must meet the following criteria:
- The purchase price must not exceed the maximum set for the area. These vary across the country, ranging from £186,100 to £600,000
- You must be a first-time buyer
- You must live in the property
- The maximum you can borrow is 20% of the purchase price (or 40% in London)
- You must be purchasing a new build property
- You must pay a minimum deposit of 5% from your own money
- You must take out a mortgage
-
To qualify for Shared ownership the combined salary or other earnings of both you and your spouse or partner must not be more than £80,000 a year or £90,000 a year if you live in London. In addition, any of the following must apply:
- You are a first-time buyer
- You used to own a home, but cannot afford to buy one now; or
- You already own a Shared ownership property
In some cases, the property may also be located in a ‘designated protected area’ which may mean that to be eligible, you also have to have a connection to the local area. Properties of this kind are also often limited to a maximum of 80% ownership, or a requirement if you wish to sell, that you must sell back to the landlord, or another eligible buyer the landlord nominates, meaning you are not able to sell on the open market.
In all cases, you will be required to undertake an affordability assessment which will be carried out by an Independent Financial Advisor. They will assist you in assessing the share you are able to purchase and the affordability of mortgage and rent payments.
-
Once you have bought a property you are able to buy additional shares by a process known as ‘staircasing’. The price for additional shares will depend on the value of the property at the time you buy that extra share. This means it will cost more than your first share if property prices have increased. There are also additional costs which will be payable in addition to the price.
Usually staircasing must be in 5% shares or more at a time, however properties purchased from 2021 may allow staircasing of 1% shares at a time.
It should be noted that Shared Ownership properties located in what are known as ‘designated protected areas’ may limit staircasing to a maximum ownership of 80%, and even if this is not the case, it is usually a requirement to sell back to the landlord or another eligible buyer that the landlord nominates.
-
If you are buying a property with one or more other people, there are two ways in which you can jointly own property and you must decide which of those two different ways suits you needs and circumstances best. You can decide to own the property as either Joint Tenants or as Tenants in Common.
“Tenant” in this context is NOT the same as someone renting a property.
-
You will need to decide for yourselves between owning as Joint Tenants and Tenants in Common and which approach is best for you and your circumstances. You will need to make your decision, and provide this to us in writing, before the Exchange of Contracts. We are not able to advise you on any taxation implications relating to the options open to you.
Please note that all information provided in this FAQ is for general reference only. It should not be used as a sole or definitive source, nor is it intended to be used for decision making in place of appropriate advice from a qualified legal professional. As such the information is provided as-is and Brevis cannot accept any responsibility or liability for any loss or damage resulting from any errors or omission in, or any reliance on, information contained in this guide.