Jargon Buster

At a loss to understand arrears, affidavits or air bricks? Bamboozled by balloon payments and back-to-back escrow? Confused by conveyancing, cash-flow and closing costs?

If so, our Jargon Buster will be just what you need.It's a glossary of terms packed full of property phrases, estate agent slang, financial words and other terms you may come across in your real estate or personal finance activities.

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Jargon Buster: P

Our glossary results: 70 matches!

Par value

The face, or nominal, value attributed to each of the company’s shares. This has no bearing on either the value of the company for which they are issued or the market value or quoted price of the shares.

Parapet

A low wall usually placed where there is a sudden drop, such as at the edge of a bridge or housetop.

Part exchange

This is where a new home developer will offer to buy your home and put its value towards to cost of a new home. It is very convenient as it negates the possibility of becoming embroiled in a chain. The downside is that the developer will often offer a fairly low price so they can make a profit when they re-sell it.

Part possession

This is the term used where a tenant has legal right of occupation to a property when it is sold.

Partially selective schools

These are schools that admit a proportion of their new students on the basis of selection examination results and fill the remainder of the places with students who live within the catchment area.

Patient money

Money left over for investment after housing, living and emergencies has been accounted for.

Patio

Paved recreation area, usually at the rear of a home

Payment cap

A legal limit on the amount a monthly payment can increase on an adjustable-rate mortgage.

Payment default

This results when you are unable or simply unwilling to meet your mortgage repayments. If you default on your payments, the lender is ultimately entitled to sell your home in order to recover the loan. Different lenders will have different policies on how long they give you before they start the legal proceedings to recover the loan. Many will have a separate schedule of charges which you will incur before they start proceedings.

Payment holiday

A short break from regular mortgage repayments, sometimes offered with flexible mortgages. This can sometimes be a useful feature for self-employed people or others with irregular income.

Payment of balance

This usually takes place between a week and a month after exchanging contracts. It is possible to have a simultaneous exchange and completion if you are in a real hurry to get moving. When you complete the sale, your solicitor forwards the remaining balance of the purchase price to the seller's solicitor. You then have the right to take occupancy of the property and are free to move in.

Payment Protection Insurance

A type of insurance that pays your loan for you if you become unable to work for an extended period of time, as a result of redundancy, accident, sickness or disability. Most non-mortgage PPI products are taken out for a length of time that corresponds to the life of the loan it is protecting.

Payment shock

Payment shocks are when the discount period ends, and the monthly repayments jump by a large amount to match the Standard Variable Rate. You must be sure that you can budget for this in your monthly expenses.

PEG factor

Price Earnings Growth. A factor used to indicate the attractiveness of investing in a growth company. It indicates the relationship between the price earnings ratio (PER) and the earnings per share growth rate.

Penny share

Term applied to companies whose shares have a very low price, normally under 50p per share.

Pension mortgage

A type of interest-only mortgage where your mortgage payments are combined with payments into your personal pension fund. This is designed to mature on your retirement, so the mortgage loan term must end between the ages of 50 and 75 unless the borrower is in an industry where the Inland Revenue permits earlier retirement. The pension also needs to provide you with an income during retirement, so only twenty five percent of the pension fund can be taken as a lump sum to pay of your mortgage.

Pension plan

An investment plan which can provide a lump sum on and an income after retirement. A pension plan is sometimes used as a way of providing a lump sum to repay the capital of an interest only mortgage.

Penthouse

A flat usually found at the top of a building and is often associated with the exclusive end of the housing market.

Percentage advance

The size of mortgage expressed as a percentage in relation to the value of the property.

Permanent Health Insurance

Insurance designed to protect you if you are unable to continue providing for yourself or others. PHI will not specifically pay off your mortgage, loans, private medical treatment, or special needs that arise through disability. It will provide you with a regular weekly or monthly income if you become unable to work as a result of sickness or disability. The amount of benefit that is paid out it is not linked to your mortgage or other loan payments, but your overall level of income.

Personal pension

A structured personal savings and investment plan to provide for your financial needs after you retire. You can use some or all of the proceeds from a personal pension to pay off an interest-only mortgage. You will need to arrange life assurance separately to a personal pension.

Personal search

This is a manual search by a conveyancer or some other specialist, who manually undertakes the same activities as in a local search. These can be completed in a matter of days rather than weeks or months, though they do end up being up to fifty pounds more expensive.

PHI

Insurance designed to protect you if you are unable to continue providing for yourself or others. PHI will not specifically pay off your mortgage, loans, private medical treatment, or special needs that arise through disability. It will provide you with a regular weekly or monthly income if you become unable to work as a result of sickness or disability. The amount of benefit that is paid out it is not linked to your mortgage or other loan payments, but your overall level of income.

Pier

A vertical column of bricks used to strengthen a wall or support a weight.

Plasterboard

Cheap material often used in ceilings and walls of modern buildings. Comprises of a layer of plaster between two layers of a course, stiff, paper.

Plat

A map showing the boundaries of a property or land plot.

PMI

This insurance which gives you access to private medical care in the event of injury or illness. This will not normally cover injuries or illnesses present prior to accepting a policy. The main downside to most of these plans is that you usually have to pay for hospital accommodation, surgeon's fees, and drugs or medication upfront and then receive a refund once your claim has been processed.

Pointing

Smooth outer edge of a mortar joint between bricks.

Policy excess

The amount you will have to pay when you make a claim. For example, this may be the first £100 of a £1000 claim for damage caused by a fire.

Policy exclusions

These are events, instances or possessions which are not covered by your household or other insurance policy. This can be confusing as the main policy may seem to imply that such events, instances, or possessions are covered only to excluded in the small print of the policy. Moral: Read the small print.

Policy schedule

A policy that details how much cover you have (the sum insured), the discount you qualify for (if any), and the premiums you have to pay. With some policies you may get a new schedule when you renew the policy or whenever you want to change your policy.

Portability

A product feature that governs whether you can take the mortgage with you if you move during the introductory offer period and beyond. This saves you having to pay off the loan and take out a new one.

Portable mortgage

The mortgage can be transferred from one property to another without incurring penalties.

Portfolio

The aggregate of investments held in various differing companies or investment trusts. Can apply to either an individual or an organisation.

Possession

When a buyer signs the papers and receives the keys to the house, they officially take possession.

Possessory title

The description given by the Land Registry to the title or ownership of a property where the registry is not entirely satisfied as to the vendor's ownership of the property due to a discrepancy. It is satisfied only that the person is lawfully in possession of the property, as opposed to title absolute and good leasehold title.

PPI

A type of insurance that pays your loan for you if you become unable to work for an extended period of time, as a result of redundancy, accident, sickness or disability. Most non-mortgage PPI products are taken out for a length of time that corresponds to the life of the loan it is protecting.

Pre tax profit

The figure reported by a company reflecting all business activities and decisions for the financial period before any tax is paid.

Pre-approval

Where a potential home buyer attempts to secure a guaranteed mortgage approval before making an offer on a house.

Pre-approval letter

A letter from a lender that informs a seller about the amount of money that a potential buyer can obtain.

Precast concrete

Concrete cast in a factory or on site before being placed in position.

Pre-contract exclusivity agreement

This is an agreement between yourself and the vendor which is a sure-fire way to prevent gazumping as you can specify a sum in the contract that the vendor would have to compensate you with in such circumstances. Use of these agreements is uncommon though, as you have to pay to get a solicitor to draw one up, and not too many vendors would be willing to sign one.

Pre-existing medical conditions

You will not typically be able to get any sort of insurance cover for pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease. You can still usually get medical plans, but treatment for pre-existing conditions or related illnesses will probably be excluded. Failure to disclose these conditions at the time of taking out the plan could lead to the policy being nullified.

Prefabrication

The manufacture of whole buildings or components cast in a factory or on site before being placed in position.

Preference capital

The amount of capital raised by a company through the sale of preferential shares.

Preferential shares

This type of share in a company usually carries no voting rights and have dividends paid at a fixed rate. As such they are effectively an unsecured debt, often having a fixed date or period for redemption of the capital sum they represent.

Preliminary enquiry

Whilst waiting for the draft contract, your solicitor sends a list of pre-contract enquiries to the seller's solicitor, in order to uncover some basic information about the property. This enquiry will ask a standard set of questions, which amongst other things should include: What is to be included in the sale? What contents will the vendor be taking with them? What is being left behind?What are the boundaries of the property? Who owns and is responsible for any perimeter hedges or fences? Is the property is connected to all the appropriate utilities? In the case of a leasehold: Who is the managing agent? Who is the freeholder? Is the current owner up to date with service charge bills and ground rent?

Preliminary statement

Made by a company to the stock exchange to announce its annual results, earnings and proposed dividend prior to the publication and release of the full Annual Report.

Premium

In the context of insurance, a premium is the regular sum you pay to keep your cover in force.

Preparatory school

A fee-paying school that often takes students from the ages of 7 to 11, 12 or 13.

Prepayment penalty

Lenders can impose a penalty on a borrower who pays a loan off before its expected end date.

Prequalification

A process by which a potential home buyer qualifies for a home mortgage before making an offer on a house. A lending institution agrees to make a loan in the specified amount to the person it has prequalified.

Price

In England, the seller gets the property valued by several estate agents and will often set the asking price at, or marginally above the highest valuation. They will usually expect the buyers to come in with offers below the asking price. To Scottish people, this must seem like a backwards way of doing things. In Scotland, the seller will, in consultation with his or her solicitor, set a price and invite offers over and above that price. This is known as the upset price. This is the minimum price at which an offer is likely to be considered.

Prime rate

The best interest rate available to a lender's most qualified customers.

Principal

The amount of money that the borrower owes on a mortgage - the amount on which interest is calculated.

Principle

The sum of the loan on which the interest is calculated.

Private Medical Insurance

This insurance which gives you access to private medical care in the event of injury or illness. This will not normally cover injuries or illnesses present prior to accepting a policy. The main downside to most of these plans is that you usually have to pay for hospital accommodation, surgeon's fees, and drugs or medication upfront and then receive a refund once your claim has been processed.

Private sale

The sale of a property without the use of an estate agent.

Private treaty

The sale of property by private treaty is the most common method employed by estate agents and involves preparing descriptive details of the property and quoting a definitive asking price. Details can then be viewed by potential buyers and viewings arranged.

Probate property

A property that is being sold by the executors of an estate due to death.

Property chain

Occurs when a seller needs the sale of their house to occur before they can complete the purchase of another property. This can be the situation for many people in the chain, all relying on the sale of their current home. The whole chain can collapse if one buyer is unable to sell their home and a link breaks causing a knock-on effect. Always check what your buyer and seller's positions are. First time and cash buyers do not have these problems.

Property information form

Your solicitor may send you a property information form. This has summary information about many of the things that will go into the draft contract - boundaries, fixtures, fitting etc. You should make sure that this is accurate and quickly let your solicitor know if it is not.

PROSHARE

The UK Government supported agency which supports and encourages investment in the stock market and the formation of investment clubs.

Prospectus

Issued by a company wishing to seek entry to the stock exchange's official list which includes information regarding the company, its assets and financial performance.

Protection products

A protection product shields you from exposure to the financial hardship caused by events such as unemployment, illness, or injury. Some protection products are designed to provide additional medical or financial benefits to those that are available through the state system.

Provisions

Monies included for in a company's balance sheet to account prospective, future, liabilities that are as yet unforeseen and unquantifiable.

Public liability Insurance

Insurance which covers injury or death to anyone on or around your property. Often included in your household insurance.

Public right of way

This means that an area of your land, such as a path in your garden or a driveway, can be legally accessed by the general public.

Purchase costs

Short term outlay required to secure the purchase of a home.

Purlin

Large horizontal beam in a roof upon which the rafters rest.
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