Jargon Buster

Conveyancing is the process of legally transferring home ownership from the seller to the buyer. If you are taking out a mortgage you will require a solicitor or conveyancer to do this. The legal work involves:- examining the contract and supporting documents and raising queries with the sellers solicitor – local authority searches – checking…

MMR stands for Mortgage Market Review which came into force in April 2014. This has changed how lenders calculate how much they are willing to lend. There is now more focus on affordability and ensuring you can repay your mortgage both now and in the future should rates rise. Lenders will now typically want to…

A second charge is a type of secured loan or debt secured against a property. However they have secondary priority behind the first charge, which will typically be your mortgage lender. If the property is sold the first charge will be repaid first, any second charges will then be repaid, any additional funds would then…

The freeholder of a property owns the property and the land it stands on outright. You are responsible for all maintenance of the property and land. A leaseholder owns the property for the length of the lease agreement, at the end of the agreement the ownership reverts back to the freeholder. Leasehold properties are usually…

APRC stands for “Annual Percentage Rate of Charge”. This figure will illustrate the cost of your mortgage for the whole term including any fees payable. This will take into account the initial rate you are on as well as any standard variable rate you may move on to after the intial deal has expired.

The Bank of England Base Rate is is the interest rate that the Bank of England charges for secured overnight lending. The Bank of England meet on the first Thursday of every month to decide if this rate needs to change. If the Bank of England Rate changes this may have an impact on your…

SVR stands for Standard Variable Rate, you will typically go on to this rate at the end of your initial deal with a lender. A standard variable rate is a variable rate that can move up or down at the lenders discretion, if you are currently on your lenders SVR speak to one of our…

ERC stands for Early Repayment Charge. Depending on the arrangement you have with your lender, there maybe an ERC to be paid should you decide to repay part or all of the mortgage. Typically ERCs are for the length of the fixed, discount or tracker rate you are applying for. Some mortgage may allow a…

Equity is the calculated by using the value of the property and taking away the mortgage amount. i.e £200,000 property value with £160,000 mortgage would leave £40,000 equity. The amount of equity you have can allow you to get a better deal on your mortgage, or you maybe able to borrow against this equity in…

LTV means Loan to Value. Loan to value effects the rate you receive from a lender. The lower the loan to value the better interest rates available. It is calculated by taking the amount of the mortgage, dividing it by the property value and multiplying by 100 to get a percentage. i.e. £160,000 mortgage on…