Property Jargon Buster

Confused by estate agent terminology? A plain-English A–Z of the words you'll meet buying, selling or letting a home.

C D E F G H I L M O P R S T U V

C

Chain: A sequence of linked property sales, where each buyer depends on selling their own home to fund their purchase. The longer the chain, the more it can slow everyone down.
Completion: The day ownership legally transfers to the buyer and the keys are released — usually a week or so after exchange of contracts, sometimes the same day.
Conveyancing: The legal process of transferring property ownership from seller to buyer, carried out by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer.
Covenant: A legal restriction attached to a property or piece of land — for example, a rule against running a business from the house — that binds current and future owners.

Deposit: The upfront sum a buyer puts down towards a purchase, or a tenant pays a landlord as security against damage or unpaid rent.

EPC (Energy Performance Certificate): A rating, A to G, of a property's energy efficiency. Legally required before a home can be marketed for sale or let, and valid for ten years.
Equity: The part of a property you own outright — its current value minus whatever is still owed on the mortgage.
Exchange of Contracts: The point at which a sale becomes legally binding. Before exchange, either side can pull out; after it, both are committed and a completion date is fixed.

Freehold: Owning a property and the land it stands on outright, with no time limit and no ground rent or service charge to a landlord.

Gazumping: When a seller accepts a higher offer from a new buyer after already verbally agreeing to sell to someone else, before contracts are exchanged.
Gazundering: When a buyer lowers their offer shortly before exchange, often when the seller has little room to walk away — the mirror image of gazumping.
Ground Rent: An annual charge a leaseholder pays to the freeholder, on top of any service charge, simply for the ground the building stands on.
Guarantor: Someone — often a parent — who legally agrees to cover a tenant's rent if the tenant is unable to pay it themselves.

HMO (House in Multiple Occupation): A property let to three or more tenants from separate households sharing facilities like a kitchen or bathroom. Larger HMOs need a specific licence from the council.

Instruction: When a seller or landlord formally appoints an agent to market their property — the point work actually starts, distinct from an informal valuation.

Leasehold: Owning a property for a fixed term — often 99 to 999 years — while someone else, the freeholder, owns the land it sits on. Common with flats.

Mortgage in Principle: A lender's indication of roughly how much they would lend you, based on a quick check of your income and credit. Not a guarantee, but useful for house-hunting seriously.

Offer: The price a buyer proposes to pay. Not legally binding until contracts are exchanged, however firmly it was agreed verbally.

Probate: The legal process of dealing with someone's estate after they die, including a Grant of Probate that confirms an executor's authority to sell their property.

Right to Rent: A landlord's legal duty to check that every adult tenant has the right to live in the UK before a tenancy starts.

Searches: Checks a conveyancer carries out during a purchase — local authority, drainage and water, and environmental — to flag anything that could affect the property's value or use.
Service Charge: A fee leaseholders pay, usually annually, towards maintaining and insuring the building and any shared areas.
Sole Agency: An agreement to market a property through one estate agent only, rather than several competing agents at once.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT): The tax paid on property purchases above a threshold in England and Northern Ireland. See our Stamp Duty Calculator for the current rates.
Survey: An inspection of a property's physical condition, ranging from a basic valuation to a full structural survey, commissioned by the buyer before exchange.

Tenancy Deposit Scheme: A government-backed scheme that protects a tenant's deposit and settles disputes about it at the end of a tenancy. Landlords are legally required to use one.