Legal jargon can be very confusing! Conveyancing Associate Helen Jones explains some of the terms used when selling or buying a house and contracts are involved. Here are some of the most commonly used legal terms and their meanings:
- Conveyance: this effects property transfer from the seller to the buyer
- Covenant: this refers to a promise contained in a deed
- Deed: the document which is signed or sealed and refers to the legal ownership of property Your solicitor can explain this in more detail
- Estate: this has two meanings a) all property and assets owned by a person at the time of death and b) when related to land it refers to ownership of that land
- Execute: to sign a document Both of these terms relate to property issues when someone dies
- Freehold: ownership of land and buildings on it (alternative to leasehold, see below)
- Joint Tenant: more than one person owns the property/land. If one of then were to die then the surviving ownership rights would pass to the other partners
- Lease: a contract signed by tenants when property or land is rented out
- Leasehold: when a lease expires the property or land reverts back to the owner – meaning that you rent it for a period of time.
- Lease Term: specifies the length of time that a lease is valid
- Legal Charge: is a legal term sometimes used in place of ‘mortgage’
- Particulars of Sale: a description of the property that is for sale and the Terms and Conditions under which the sale will proceed
- Power of Attorney: authority given to someone to allow another person to act on their behalf
- Register: refers to HM Land Registry who record property ownership details in England and Wales
- Sale Subject to Contract: either party can withdraw from a property purchase and not be liable
- Tenancy: possession of land or property owned by someone else
- Tenant: person who lives in a property or on land not owned by them
- Tenants in Common: this is the opposite to Joint Tenants. If more than one person has an interest in land and they were to die, their ownership would form part of their estate and would not pass to the surviving party
- Tenure: Land is held on specified terms – usually freehold or leasehold
- Trust: Property is given to a person to be used for a particular purpose – in the case of death a house may be passed to a spouse on condition that it is held in trust for any surviving children
- Vendor: person selling the property
For a free initial meeting please call 01202 499255 and Helen or a member of your team will be happy to discuss any questions you may have.