Housing jargon explained by the NAEA

Housing jargon explained by the NAEA

16:58 PM, 25th March 2013, About 11 years ago

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JargonRecent figures show over 40% of people looking into buying a home say that housing jargon confuses them. House hunter numbers are rising and first time buyers now make up a quarter of the market.  With this in mind the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) releases a jargon busting list to assist house hunters with the buying process.

Mark Hayward, President of the NAEA, said “It can be easy to forget that language and terms used when speaking with colleagues can be confusing and difficult to understand to buyers. Many have a limited knowledge of the vocabulary around buying and selling a home and will often find it off putting.

“Agents must remember to take time to explain terminology to those taking their first steps onto the property ladder. First time buyers can often be in a vulnerable position because they will not have had direct experience in buying a home.”

The NAEA has prepared a list of housing jargon below.

Chain: this refers to the sequence of buyers and sellers.  Because most sellers are also buyers there can often be a chain of people waiting on each other.  If for instance a buyer or seller drops out the chain can collapse and the purchasing of a home can be cancelled or delayed

Completion date: when the transaction is complete and ownership of the property passes from the seller to the buye

Conveyancing: managed by a solicitor or qualified conveyancer, this is the legal process where all the issues arising from the sale or purchase of a house is taken care of and ownership of a property in transferred

Disbursements: payments made by your solicitor to other people on your behalf, such as stamp duty, land registry charges and search fees

Exchange of contracts: the point both parties are committed to the transaction, before contracts are exchanged the buyer and seller can walk away at any time

Freehold: ownership of the land and any property that stands on it

Leasehold: ownership of property for a certain length of time. This is common for flats and maisonettes and usually involves payment of ground rent and maintenance charges.  When the lease expires, ownership of the property returns to the freeholder

Building survey: a report into the physical state of the property, also sometimes referred to as a full structural survey

Vendor: another word for the seller of the property


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