Glossary of common terms used in house buying and selling
Conveyancing
The industry term for the legal work involved in changing ownership of a property. The costs involve both the solicitor's fees and the solicitor's disbursements.
Disbursements
Money the solicitor has paid out on your behalf.
Home Information Pack (HIP)
Also known as a 'seller's pack'.
Included in the HIP will be: The Sale Statement will indicate if the property is freehold or leasehold and, if leasehold, what is the remaining length of lease.
Title Information including a plan of the property boundary and showing what land is included in the sale.
Property Information Questionnaire is compiled by the seller and gives a lot of information about the property including what services are connected, any building work which has been carried out, parking arrangements, experience of flooding and so on.
Energy Performance Certificate outlines the energy efficiency of the property and recommends work that could be carried out to improve the efficiency. This includes an indication of the cost of heating the property. Bear in mind that these are based on average usage and, as a result, are useful when comparing properties rather than budgeting for the real costs. Services In property terms, people normally mean water, sewerage, mains electricity and gas when they refer to services connected to a property.
Services
Also known as utilities – a term used to refer to any mains water, electricity, gas or sewerage that is connected to your property that you pay a regular bill for.
Stamp Duty
Stamp Duty of one per cent of the property price (if the property is priced between £175,000 and £250,000) three per cent (for properties between £250,000 and £500,000) and over £500,000 it will be four per cent. Note that some areas of Cornwall (such as Camborne) are classed by the government as disadvantaged and as a result are exempt. This can be determined clicking here (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/dar/dar-search.htm).
Mortgage Valuation Survey
Also called a lender's valuation survey. They can cost between £125 and £1,000 depending on the type of survey you have done and provide you with varying levels of detail about the house you are considering buying.
