Jargon Buster

Lender 

A lender is an individual, a public or private group, or a financial institution that makes funds available to another with the expectation that the funds will be repaid.

Mortgage

A mortgage is a type of loan used to buy a house. Most people don’t have the cash to buy a house, so they get a loan from the bank. They then pay back the loan over an agreed period of time by making a payment each month.

Agreement in principle

An ‘agreement in principle’ (AIP), ‘decision in principle’ or ‘mortgage in principle’ are all terms that refer to much the same thing. A lender will take some basic information and perform a credit search and credit score before coming up with a figure that ‘in principle’ it would be able to lend.

Property

The house, flat, bungalow or other building you may wish to buy.

Legal process

This is what is known as ‘conveyancing’ and involves the legal transfer of ownership from the previous owner to the new owner.

Solicitor

This will be a legal professional who specialises in the conveyancing process.

Point of exchange 

This is the ‘completion’ of the legal process.