Reference

A plain-language housing glossary

Terms that appear on every property description and are rarely defined on it. Definitions here are general explanations of what the words mean, not statements about any particular property or transaction.

A-C

Asking price: The figure at which a property is advertised. It is a filter intended to attract suitable buyers, not an assessment of value.
Boundary: The line dividing one property from another. What the title plan shows and what the fence does are not always the same thing.
Chain: A run of linked transactions in which each buyer must complete their own sale before completing their purchase.
Completion: The day money and possession change hands and the buyer becomes the owner in fact.
Comparable: A recent sale of a similar property used as evidence in estimating what another property might achieve.
Covenant: An obligation or restriction attached to a title that binds whoever owns it.

D-L

Deposit: The part of the price paid from the buyer's own funds rather than borrowed. Also used for the sum paid at exchange of contracts.
Exchange: The point at which contracts become binding on both sides and the completion date is fixed.
Freehold: Ownership of the land and the building on it, without a time limit.
Ground rent: A payment made by a leaseholder for the land rather than for any service provided.
Leasehold: The right to occupy a property for a defined term under the conditions set out in a lease.
Loan to value: The size of a loan expressed as a proportion of the property's assessed value.

M-S

Mortgage: A loan secured against a specific property, so that the property stands as the lender's security.
Particulars: The written description of a property prepared for marketing. It is a summary, not a survey.
Search: A legal enquiry made of a public body or record about the property and the land around it.
Service charge: A leaseholder's share of the cost of maintaining parts of a building used by more than one household.
Stock: All the housing in an area, as distinct from the small share of it available to buy at any moment.
Survey: An inspection of a building's condition commissioned by and reported to the buyer.
Subject to contract: A stage at which terms are agreed in principle but nothing binds either party.

T-V

Term: The period over which a loan is scheduled to be repaid.
Title: The record of who owns a property and on what conditions.
Turnover: The share of the housing stock in an area that changes hands in a given period.
Under offer: An offer has been accepted but the sale is not yet binding.
Valuation: An assessment of what a property is worth, most often carried out for a lender rather than for a buyer.
Vendor: The party selling a property.