Mortgage glossary
Plain-English meanings of the words that come up when arranging a UK mortgage.
These entries are general information, not mortgage advice. Where a term depends on a figure, a tax threshold, or whether a scheme is still open, that detail is on the linked page.
A
Additional borrowing
Another name for further advance.
Adverse credit
Adverse credit means a credit history that includes missed payments, defaults, county court judgments, or a similar mark.
Affordability
Affordability is the lender’s assessment of whether you can keep up the mortgage payments, from income, committed spending, and the loan asked for.
Agreement in principle
An agreement in principle is a lender’s statement that it could lend a stated amount, based on initial information. It is not a mortgage offer. Also called a decision in principle.
Agricultural mortgage
An agricultural mortgage is secured on farmland or other rural property used for farming. Lenders look at farming use and income, not only at the land as a house plot.
AIP
Another name for agreement in principle.
Amortisation
Amortisation is the way a repayment mortgage pays down the amount borrowed over the term. Early payments are mostly interest. Later payments clear more of the capital.
Appointed representative
An appointed representative gives mortgage advice under an FCA-authorised firm, called the principal, rather than holding that permission itself.
APRC
APRC means annual percentage rate of charge. It is a way of showing the cost of a mortgage over its full term, including interest and certain fees, as a single rate.
Architect’s certificate
An architect’s certificate is a professional’s confirmation of how a build is progressing or that work meets an agreed standard. Self-build and conversion lenders sometimes accept one in place of a new-build warranty.
Arrangement fee
An arrangement fee is a charge from the lender for setting up the mortgage. It is often paid on completion, or added to the loan.
Arrears
Mortgage arrears are payments that have been missed and are still owed to the lender.
Assured shorthold tenancy
An assured shorthold tenancy is a form of private residential tenancy. Many buy-to-let mortgages were written on the basis that the property would be let this way. The contract used for a new letting depends on the current law in England, Scotland, or Wales.
Auction finance
Auction finance is borrowing for a property bought at auction, where the contract and completion deadline are shorter than a private sale.
B
Bank Rate
Bank Rate is the interest rate set by the Bank of England. Tracker mortgages are often priced as a margin above or below it.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a formal insolvency process. It is recorded on the credit file, and mortgage lenders treat it as adverse credit both during the bankruptcy and for a time after discharge.
Base rate
Another name for bank rate.
Booking fee
A booking fee is a charge to reserve a mortgage deal. Some booking fees are not refunded if the application does not complete.
Bridging
Bridging is short-term secured borrowing, often used until a longer-term mortgage starts or a property sale completes.
Broker
A mortgage broker advises on mortgages and can arrange one from a range of lenders. Mortgage118 lists brokers. It does not arrange mortgages or give advice.
Broker fee
A broker fee is what you pay the broker for advice or for arranging the mortgage. It is separate from the procuration fee, which the lender pays the broker.
BTL
Another name for buy to let.
Buildings insurance
Buildings insurance covers the structure of the property against damage. Lenders expect it to be in place when you exchange or complete, with their interest noted on the policy.
Buy to let
A buy-to-let mortgage is for a property the owner intends to rent to tenants, rather than live in.
C
Capital
Capital is the amount borrowed, before interest.
Capital and interest
Another name for repayment mortgage.
Capped rate
A capped rate can move, but it will not rise above an agreed ceiling during the capped period.
Care home finance
Care home finance is commercial borrowing secured on a care home, assessed on the home as a business rather than as a house.
Cashback mortgage
A cashback mortgage pays the borrower a sum when the mortgage completes. The payment is part of the deal, not a reduction in the amount borrowed.
CCJ
A CCJ (county court judgment) is a court decision that a debt is owed. It is recorded on the credit file until it is settled and for a time after that.
Chain
A chain is a line of linked property sales, where each purchase depends on another sale. If one transaction fails, the others in the chain can stall. A chain-free sale has no such link.
CHAPS
CHAPS is a same-day sterling bank payment. Solicitors use it to send the mortgage money, and the purchase price, on completion.
Charge
A charge is the lender’s legal right over the property until the secured loan is repaid. It is registered against the title. A first charge is repaid before a second charge if the property is sold.
Collared rate
A collared rate can move, but it will not fall below an agreed floor during the collared period.
Commercial mortgage
A commercial mortgage is secured on business premises, such as an office, and is assessed on the property and the business, not as a home loan.
Completion
Completion is the day ownership passes to the buyer and the mortgage funds are sent. That is when the buyer can collect the keys.
Completion statement
A completion statement is the solicitor’s account of the money paid and received on completion, including the price, the mortgage advance, tax, and fees.
Concessionary purchase
A concessionary purchase is a sale below market value, often between family members. Lenders assess it differently from a sale between strangers, and may limit how the discount can be used.
Consumer buy to let
A consumer buy-to-let mortgage is letting finance taken other than as a business, for example when you let a home you used to live in. Unlike most business buy-to-let loans, it is regulated.
Conveyancing
Conveyancing is the legal work of transferring a property: the contract, the searches, the mortgage deed, and registration of the new owner.
Credit file
A credit file is the record of your credit accounts, payments, and public information such as court judgments, held by a credit-reference agency.
Credit rating
A credit rating is an assessment of how reliably someone has repaid credit. Lenders use credit history when they decide whether to offer a mortgage.
Credit score
A credit score is a number a credit-reference agency calculates from your credit file. Lenders make their own assessment and may not use that number as it is published.
D
Daily interest
Daily interest means the lender calculates interest on the balance each day. An overpayment then reduces the interest sooner than if interest were calculated once a year.
Debt consolidation
Debt consolidation, in mortgages, means borrowing against a home to repay other debts. Those debts then become secured on the property.
Debt management plan
A debt management plan is an arrangement to repay unsecured debts at a reduced rate. It is not a court order and it is not an individual voluntary arrangement, but lenders still see it as adverse credit.
Decision in principle
Another name for agreement in principle.
Default
A default is a lender’s record that a credit agreement was broken, usually after missed payments. It appears on the credit file.
Deposit
The deposit is the buyer’s own money put towards the purchase price. The mortgage covers the remainder.
Development finance
Development finance funds a building project, usually in stages, against the site and the value of the finished scheme rather than as a home mortgage.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs a solicitor pays to other parties during conveyancing, such as searches and Land Registry fees, and then recharges to you.
Discount mortgage
A discount mortgage charges interest below the lender’s standard variable rate for an agreed period.
Drawdown
Drawdown is taking part of a loan that has already been agreed. Self-build, development, and some equity-release loans release money in drawdowns rather than in one payment.
E
Early repayment charge
An early repayment charge is a fee some lenders apply if the borrower repays the mortgage, or overpays above an allowance, while a deal is still running.
Easement
An easement is a legal right over someone else’s land, such as a right of way or a drainage right. It is recorded on the title and can affect lending.
Electoral roll
The electoral roll is the list of people registered to vote at an address. Lenders use it to check identity and where you live.
Endowment mortgage
An endowment mortgage is an older interest-only loan paired with an endowment policy that was meant to repay the capital at the end. The policy and the mortgage are separate contracts.
Energy performance certificate
An energy performance certificate (EPC) rates how energy efficient a property is. Lenders may ask for the rating, and some products depend on it.
Equity
Equity is the share of the property the owner holds outright: its value minus what is still owed.
Equity release
Equity release lets a homeowner take money from the value of their home without selling it. The two main types are a lifetime mortgage and a home reversion plan.
ERC
Another name for early repayment charge.
ESIS
An ESIS (European Standardised Information Sheet) is the mortgage illustration for a regulated mortgage. It sets out the rate, payments, fees, and early-repayment terms in a fixed format.
EWS1
An EWS1 is a form recording an assessment of a block’s external walls, including cladding. Lenders may ask for it before they will lend on a flat in that building.
Exchange of contracts
Exchange of contracts is the point in England and Wales when buyer and seller are legally bound to complete. A deposit is usually paid to the seller’s solicitor then. In Scotland the equivalent step is conclusion of missives.
Exit fee
An exit fee is a charge for leaving a loan. On bridging and some other short-term loans it is part of the pricing, and it is separate from an early repayment charge on a mortgage deal.
Expat mortgage
An expat mortgage is for a UK citizen living abroad who wants to buy or remortgage property in the UK.
F
First charge
A first charge is the mortgage that ranks ahead of any other loan on the same property. A standard residential mortgage is a first charge.
First Homes
First Homes is a discounted-sale scheme for some new-build homes, aimed at first-time buyers and key workers. Who qualifies is set locally as well as by the scheme rules.
First-time buyer
A first-time buyer is someone buying a home who has not owned a property before. Lenders and tax rules do not always use the same definition.
Fixed rate
A fixed-rate mortgage keeps the interest rate the same for an agreed period. Payments stay the same during that period, then the deal ends.
Flying freehold
A flying freehold is a part of a freehold property that sits over or under a neighbour’s property, such as a room above a shared passage. Some lenders restrict them.
Foreign national mortgage
A foreign national mortgage is for someone who is not a UK citizen and wants to buy or remortgage in the UK. Lenders look at residency, visa status, and where the income is earned.
Freehold
Freehold means you own the property and the land it stands on, with no lease running out.
Further advance
A further advance is extra borrowing from your current mortgage lender, secured on the same property. The existing mortgage stays in place.
G
Gazumping
Gazumping is when a seller accepts a higher offer from someone else after already accepting yours, and before contracts are exchanged.
Gazundering
Gazundering is when a buyer lowers their offer after the seller has accepted it, and before contracts are exchanged.
Gifted deposit
A gifted deposit is money given towards the purchase by someone who will not be on the mortgage, often a parent. Lenders ask for evidence that it is a gift, not a loan that has to be repaid.
Green mortgage
A green mortgage is a deal whose terms depend on the property’s energy efficiency, or on work to improve it. Each lender sets its own qualifying rules.
Gross development value
Gross development value is the estimated value of a project once it is built and sold or let. Development lenders use it when they decide how much to lend.
Ground rent
Ground rent is a payment a leaseholder makes to the freeholder under the lease. How much it is, and whether it can rise, affects which lenders will accept the property.
Guarantor
A guarantor agrees to cover the mortgage payments if the borrower cannot.
H
Hard search
A hard search is a full credit check that is recorded on your credit file. A full mortgage application usually includes one, and other lenders can see it.
Help to Buy
Help to Buy is the name of government home-ownership schemes. Which versions have closed, and what people still need to know about them, is on the Help to Buy page.
Higher lending charge
A higher lending charge is a fee on a mortgage that is high relative to the property’s value. It may pay for insurance that protects the lender, not you.
HMO
An HMO (house in multiple occupation) is a rental property occupied by unrelated people who share facilities. Lending on an HMO is a specialist buy-to-let case.
Holiday let
A holiday-let mortgage is for a property let to guests for short stays, rather than on a standard residential tenancy.
Home purchase plan
A home purchase plan is a way to buy a home without paying interest, used as a Sharia-compliant alternative to a mortgage. The provider buys the property and you buy it from them over time while paying to occupy it.
Home report
In Scotland, a home report is the pack a seller must provide before marketing, including a survey, an energy report, and a property questionnaire. It is not the lender’s own valuation.
Home reversion
Home reversion is a form of equity release. You sell all or part of the home for a lump sum or income and keep the right to live there. It is not a lifetime mortgage.
Hotel finance
Hotel finance is commercial borrowing secured on a hotel, assessed on the trading business rather than as a home or a standard buy to let.
I
Income protection
Income protection is insurance that pays an income if you cannot work because of illness or injury. It is separate from the mortgage, and it is not the same as life cover.
Indemnity insurance
In conveyancing, an indemnity policy is a one-off insurance policy against a legal defect, such as a missing document or a breach of a covenant. It covers a loss. It does not remove the defect.
Independent mortgage adviser
An independent mortgage adviser can consider the broad market and must be able to work for a fee you pay, not only for commission from a lender.
Individual voluntary arrangement
An individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) is a formal, binding agreement to repay creditors over time. It is recorded on the credit file.
Industrial mortgage
An industrial mortgage is secured on industrial property, such as a warehouse or workshop, and is underwritten as commercial lending.
Interest cover ratio
The interest cover ratio is how many times the rent covers the mortgage interest. Buy-to-let lenders use it, often on a stressed interest rate, when they assess a rental property.
Interest-only
An interest-only mortgage takes payments of interest during the term. The amount borrowed is still owed at the end and needs a separate way to repay it.
J
Japanese knotweed
Japanese knotweed is an invasive plant that can damage buildings and neighbouring land. Lenders may restrict or refuse a mortgage where it is present, depending on a professional management plan.
Joint borrower sole proprietor
A joint borrower sole proprietor mortgage has more than one person responsible for the loan, but only one of them is the legal owner. It is used so another person’s income can be included without them owning the home.
Joint mortgage
A joint mortgage is taken out by two or more people. Each borrower is responsible for the full debt.
Joint tenants
Joint tenants own the whole property together, with equal rights. If one owner dies, their share usually passes to the surviving owner.
L
Land mortgage
A land mortgage is secured on land, often a plot without a habitable house. Lenders distinguish land with planning permission from land without it.
Land Registry
HM Land Registry records ownership of property in England and Wales, including mortgage charges. Scotland uses Registers of Scotland. Northern Ireland uses Land and Property Services.
LBTT
LBTT (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax) is the tax on buying property in Scotland. It is the Scottish equivalent of stamp duty land tax.
Leasehold
Leasehold means you own the property for the years left on a lease from the freeholder, not the land outright. Lenders look at the lease length and at clauses such as ground rent.
Legal charge
Another name for charge.
Let to buy
Let to buy is when an owner lets their current home and buys another to live in. The old home is usually financed as a buy to let, and the new home as a residential mortgage.
Lifetime ISA
A Lifetime ISA is a savings account that can be used towards a first home or kept until later life. The government adds a bonus when the account rules are met. Using the money outside those rules can mean a charge.
Lifetime mortgage
A lifetime mortgage is the main form of equity release. You borrow against the home, interest is charged, and the loan is usually repaid when you die or move into long-term care.
Limited company mortgage
A limited-company mortgage is borrowing in a company’s name, most often for buy to let, rather than in the personal names of the shareholders.
Listed building
A listed building is on the national register of buildings of special interest. Altering it needs consent, and some lenders limit which listed buildings they will mortgage.
Loan to income
Loan to income is the mortgage amount compared with your income. Each lender sets its own ceiling, and the regulator expects lenders to justify higher multiples.
Loan to value
Loan to value (LTV) is the mortgage amount as a proportion of the property’s value. A larger deposit means a lower loan to value.
LTT
LTT (Land Transaction Tax) is the tax on buying property in Wales. It is the Welsh equivalent of stamp duty land tax.
LTV
Another name for loan to value.
M
Mezzanine finance
Mezzanine finance on a development sits behind the main development loan and ahead of the developer’s own money. The lender takes more risk than the senior lender.
MIG
A MIG (mortgage indemnity guarantee) is insurance the lender takes out when the loan is high relative to the property value. If you are charged for it, the policy still protects the lender, not you.
Missives
In Scotland, missives are the contract letters between the buyer’s and seller’s solicitors. The sale becomes binding when missives are concluded.
Mixed use
Mixed use means a property that combines residential and commercial parts, such as a flat over a shop. Lending is specialist because the security is not a straightforward home or a straightforward commercial unit.
Monthly repayment
The monthly repayment is the amount paid to the lender each month. On a repayment mortgage it covers interest and part of the amount borrowed. On an interest-only mortgage it covers interest only.
Mortgage deed
The mortgage deed is the legal document you sign that gives the lender a charge over the property.
Mortgage guarantee scheme
A mortgage guarantee scheme is a government programme that encourages lenders to offer loans at a higher share of the property’s value, by guaranteeing part of the loan. More than one scheme has used this name, so the current rules are what apply.
Mortgage illustration
A mortgage illustration sets out the rate, payments, fees, and early-repayment terms before you are offered the loan. On a regulated mortgage the illustration is the ESIS.
Mortgage in principle
Another name for agreement in principle.
Mortgage offer
A mortgage offer is the lender’s formal offer after it has assessed the application and valued the property. It replaces an agreement in principle. It can still be withdrawn if circumstances change.
Mortgage protection
Mortgage protection is insurance arranged alongside a mortgage, such as life cover sized to the loan or cover for payments if you cannot work. It is a separate contract from the mortgage.
Mortgage term
The mortgage term is the length of time agreed for repaying the loan.
Mortgage valuation
A mortgage valuation is the lender’s check of what the property is worth as security for the loan. It is not a survey of the building’s condition for you.
N
Negative equity
Negative equity is when the property is worth less than the amount still owed on the mortgage.
New build
A new build is a home that is newly constructed or not yet finished. Lenders value new builds differently from older homes and usually expect a new-build warranty.
New-build warranty
A new-build warranty is a structural warranty on a newly built home, from a provider such as NHBC or a similar insurer. Lenders normally require one before they will lend.
Non-standard construction
Non-standard construction means a home not built in the usual brick or block cavity-wall way, including some concrete, timber-frame, and steel-frame systems. Fewer lenders will consider them.
O
Occupancy restriction
An occupancy restriction is a planning condition that limits who may live in a property, such as an agricultural tie. It narrows the lenders who will take the property as security.
Offer conditions
Offer conditions are the requirements in a mortgage offer that must be met before the lender releases the money, such as insurance, documents, or works to the property.
Offset mortgage
An offset mortgage sets savings held with the same lender against the mortgage balance. Interest is charged on the balance minus those savings. The savings stay in the borrower’s account.
Open bridging
Open bridging is short-term finance with no sale or long-term mortgage already agreed as the way to repay it. Closed bridging has that exit in place.
Overage
Overage is a promise to pay the seller more later if the land becomes more valuable, often after planning permission is granted. It is recorded against the land and development lenders take it into account.
Overpayment
An overpayment is paying more than the monthly amount due. During a deal, the lender may allow this only up to a set share of the balance before an early repayment charge applies.
P
Part and part
A part-and-part mortgage is split between repayment and interest-only. Only the repayment portion is on track to clear itself by the end of the term.
Payment holiday
A payment holiday is an agreed pause in monthly payments. Interest usually keeps being charged, so the amount owed rises unless the lender says otherwise.
Personal guarantee
A personal guarantee is a promise by an individual to repay a loan taken in a company’s name if the company does not. Limited-company buy-to-let lenders often ask directors for one.
Planning permission
Planning permission is consent from the planning authority to build or to change the use of land or a building. Outline permission agrees the principle. Detailed permission agrees the specifics. Land and development lenders treat the two differently.
Portability
Portability means a mortgage deal can be moved to a new property if the borrower moves home, if the lender agrees after its usual checks.
Portfolio landlord
A portfolio landlord has four or more mortgaged buy-to-let properties. Lenders then look at the whole set of properties, not only the one being financed.
PRC
PRC (precast reinforced concrete) is a non-standard building system used for some post-war houses. Lenders often want a recognised repair certificate before they will lend.
Procuration fee
A procuration fee is the commission a lender pays a broker for arranging a mortgage. It is not added to your loan. The broker should tell you about it.
Product fee
A product fee is a charge for a particular mortgage product. Lenders sometimes use this name for the same charge as an arrangement fee.
Product transfer
A product transfer is moving onto a new deal with the same lender when the current deal ends, without remortgaging to a different lender or going through a full new application.
Proof of deposit
Proof of deposit is evidence of where the money for the deposit is held and how it was built up, such as statements or a gifted-deposit letter.
R
Redemption
Redemption is paying off the mortgage and closing the account. The lender may charge an administration fee for that, separate from any early repayment charge.
Redemption statement
A redemption statement is the lender’s figure for the amount needed to pay off the mortgage on a stated day, including interest to that day and any fees.
Refurbishment finance
Refurbishment finance funds works to a property, from a light update to a heavier conversion, and is usually short-term or released in stages rather than as a standard home mortgage.
Regulated mortgage
A regulated mortgage is a loan secured on UK land where enough of that land is used, or is intended, as a home by the borrower or a relative. Many business buy-to-let loans fall outside that definition.
Remortgage
A remortgage replaces the current mortgage with a new deal, with the same lender or a different one, without buying a new property.
Rental yield
Rental yield is the rent as a proportion of the property’s price or value. Gross yield uses the rent before costs. Net yield deducts running costs.
Repayment mortgage
A repayment mortgage takes payments of interest and part of the amount borrowed. If you keep the payments up, the loan is due to be cleared at the end of the term.
Repossession
Repossession is when a lender takes the property because the mortgage has not been paid, and sells it to recover the debt.
Residential mortgage
A residential mortgage is for a property you will live in, as opposed to a buy-to-let or commercial loan.
Restrictive covenant
A restrictive covenant is a binding limit on how land can be used, recorded on the title. Breaching it can affect a sale and a lender’s willingness to take the property as security.
Retail mortgage
A retail mortgage is commercial borrowing secured on a shop or similar retail unit, assessed on the property as a business premises.
Retention
A retention is money the lender holds back from the loan until stated works are finished, usually after the valuation notes repairs.
Right to Buy
Right to Buy is a scheme that lets some social tenants buy the home they rent, at a discount set by the scheme. Selling within a set period can mean repaying part of that discount. Scotland and Wales have ended their versions.
S
SA302
An SA302 is HMRC’s tax calculation for a year, showing income and tax. Lenders usually ask self-employed applicants for SA302s together with tax year overviews.
SDLT
SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) is the tax on buying property in England and Northern Ireland.
Searches
Searches are checks a solicitor orders before exchange, such as local authority, drainage, and environmental searches, to find matters that could affect the property or the lender’s security.
Second charge
A second-charge mortgage is a further loan secured on a property that already has a mortgage. The existing mortgage stays in place and is repaid first if the property is sold.
Second home
A second home is a property you own in addition to your main home and do not let as a business. Property taxes and some lender rules treat it differently from a main residence.
Secured loan
A secured loan is borrowing backed by an asset, usually a property. If it is not repaid, the lender can enforce its charge and the property can be sold. A mortgage is a secured loan.
Self-build
A self-build mortgage funds the construction of a home. The money is usually released in stages as the build progresses, rather than in one sum at the start.
Self-employed
For a mortgage, self-employed usually means your income is assessed from tax calculations, tax year overviews, and accounts, rather than from a salary and payslips.
Service charge
A service charge is what leaseholders pay towards the upkeep of the building and shared areas. It is separate from ground rent. Lenders look at whether it is reasonable and up to date.
Serviced accommodation
Serviced accommodation is a property let for short stays with services such as cleaning, closer to a hotel room than a standard tenancy. Mortgage lending on it is specialist.
Snagging
Snagging is the list of defects to be put right on a new home, such as unfinished finishes or minor faults, before or soon after you complete.
Soft search
A soft search is a credit check that other lenders do not see as an application. An agreement in principle often uses one. A full application usually then uses a hard search.
Source of funds
Source of funds is where the money for the deposit came from, for example savings, a gift, or a sale. Solicitors and lenders ask as part of checks against money laundering.
Source of wealth
Source of wealth is how you built up your money overall, not only which account the deposit is in. Lenders and solicitors may ask for it on larger or less straightforward applications.
Special purpose vehicle
A special purpose vehicle (SPV) is a company set up to hold property, often for buy to let, rather than a company that trades in something else.
SPV
Another name for special purpose vehicle.
Staircasing
Staircasing is buying further shares in a shared-ownership home, so you own more of it and pay rent on a smaller share.
Stamp duty
Stamp duty is the tax on buying property or land. England and Northern Ireland charge Stamp Duty Land Tax. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax.
Standard variable rate
The standard variable rate (SVR) is a lender’s own variable interest rate. Borrowers often move onto it when a fixed, tracker, or discount deal ends.
Stress test
A stress test is the lender’s check that the mortgage would still be affordable if the interest rate were higher than the rate on the deal, or if rental income fell short of a set cover.
Student accommodation
Student accommodation lending is buy-to-let finance for property let to students, including houses and purpose-built blocks. Lenders assess the letting as student use, not as a standard single tenancy.
Subject to contract
Subject to contract means an agreed price is not yet legally binding. In England and Wales the sale binds the parties at exchange, not when the offer is accepted.
Subsidence
Subsidence is downward movement of the ground under a building that damages the foundations. A history of subsidence can restrict which lenders and insurers will accept the property.
Survey
A survey is an inspection of the property’s condition for the buyer. RICS describes them in levels, from a basic report to a full building survey. It is separate from the lender’s valuation.
SVR
Another name for standard variable rate.
T
Tenants in common
Tenants in common each own a distinct share of the property. The shares can be unequal, and each owner can leave their share by will.
Tie-in period
The tie-in period is the time during a deal when leaving, or overpaying above the allowance, can trigger an early repayment charge.
Tied adviser
A tied adviser can recommend mortgages from only one lender, or from a limited panel, rather than from the market as a whole.
Title
Title is the legal ownership of a property. The title register and title plan show who owns it, the mortgage charges, and limits such as covenants and rights of way.
Tracker
A tracker mortgage follows another interest rate, usually the Bank of England Bank Rate, plus or minus a set margin.
Transfer of equity
A transfer of equity adds or removes someone from the ownership of a property you already own, often while a mortgage is still secured on it. The lender has to agree.
U
UK Finance handbook
The UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook tells solicitors what each lender requires before mortgage money is released. It is still often called the CML handbook.
Underwriting
Underwriting is the lender’s assessment of you, your income, your credit, and the property before it decides whether to offer a mortgage and on what terms.
Unencumbered
An unencumbered property has no mortgage or other charge secured on it.
V
Valuation fee
A valuation fee pays for the lender’s valuation of the property. That valuation is for the lender’s security. It is not a survey for the buyer.
Variable rate
A variable-rate mortgage is one where the interest rate can change. Trackers, discounted rates, and standard variable rates are all variable.
Vendor
The vendor is the seller of the property.
W
Whole of market
Whole of market means the adviser is not limited to one lender or a small panel. It is not, by itself, the same as being an independent adviser.
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Important: Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Information on this page is for general guidance only and does not constitute financial advice.Always verify details directly and seek independent advice before making financial decisions.