24 terms
Legal Property Terms
Legal concepts you'll encounter during a property transaction, from title deeds to restrictive covenants.
- Building Safety Fund
- A UK government fund to cover the cost of removing unsafe non-ACM cladding from residential buildings over 18 metres (roughly 6 storeys). Introduced after the Grenfell Tower fire. The Building Safe...
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- Chancel Repair Liability
- A historic legal obligation that can require property owners near certain medieval churches to contribute to the cost of repairing the church chancel. Liability can run to tens of thousands of poun...
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- Commonhold
- An alternative to leasehold where flat owners jointly own and manage the common parts of the building through a commonhold association. Unlike leasehold, there is no freeholder and no ground rent. ...
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- Conveyancing
- The legal process of transferring property ownership from one person to another. A conveyancer (solicitor or licensed conveyancer) handles searches, title checks, drafting contracts, and managing t...
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- Covenants
- Legal obligations attached to a property that restrict or require certain actions. Restrictive covenants might prevent extensions, running a business, or keeping animals. Positive covenants might r...
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- Deed of Variation
- A legal document used to change the terms of an existing lease or agreement. In the leasehold context, a deed of variation might amend ground rent terms, remove restrictive clauses, or change permi...
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- Easement
- A legal right allowing someone to use another person's land for a specific purpose, such as a right of way or right to run services (pipes, cables) across it. Easements are registered on the title ...
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- Forfeiture
- The legal process by which a freeholder can terminate a lease and take back possession of a leasehold property. Grounds include non-payment of ground rent or service charges, breach of lease covena...
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- Ground Rent
- An annual fee paid by a leaseholder to the freeholder for the land the property sits on. Under the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, ground rent on new leases must be set at a peppercorn (ef...
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- Joint Tenancy
- A form of property ownership where two or more people own equal shares. If one owner dies, their share automatically passes to the surviving owner(s) — this is called the right of survivorship. Com...
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- Land Registry
- The government body (HM Land Registry) that records the ownership of land and property in England and Wales. Title registers and plans can be downloaded for £3. The Land Registry also publishes sol...
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- Management Company
- A company responsible for maintaining the common areas of a leasehold development — hallways, gardens, lifts, car parks, and building insurance. Can be a resident-run company (where flat owners are...
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- Overage Clause
- A clause in the sale contract that entitles the previous owner to a share of any increase in the property's value if it is developed or has planning permission granted within a specified period (ty...
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- Party Wall
- A wall shared between two properties (semi-detached or terraced houses). The Party Wall Act 1996 requires you to formally notify adjoining owners before carrying out certain types of work on or nea...
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- Permitted Development
- Building work or changes of use that can be carried out without needing a full planning application, within defined limits. Examples include certain extensions, loft conversions, and outbuildings. ...
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- Planning Permission
- Formal approval from the local planning authority to carry out building work, change the use of land, or make alterations that go beyond permitted development rights. Applications are decided again...
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- Reserve Fund
- Money set aside by a management company or freeholder to pay for planned major works on a building — such as roof replacement, external repainting, or lift overhaul. Also known as a sinking fund. A...
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- Section 106 Agreement
- A legal agreement between a developer and the local planning authority, made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. These agreements require developers to provide benefits lik...
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- Service Charge
- An annual charge paid by leaseholders to cover the cost of maintaining common areas of a building — cleaning, gardening, building insurance, lift maintenance, and major works. Charges vary widely (...
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- Sinking Fund
- A reserve fund built up through regular contributions by leaseholders to cover future major works (roof replacement, exterior decoration, lift repairs). A healthy sinking fund means leaseholders ar...
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- Tenants in Common
- A form of property co-ownership where each owner holds a specific share (not necessarily equal). Unlike joint tenancy, there is no right of survivorship — each owner can leave their share to whoeve...
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- Title Deeds
- The official documents proving ownership of a property and land. Since 1990, most titles in England and Wales are registered with HM Land Registry digitally. The title register shows the owner, any...
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- TPO (Tree Preservation Order)
- An order made by a local planning authority to protect specific trees or woodland. It is a criminal offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, or damage a TPO tree without the council's written consent...
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- Wayleave
- A legal agreement granting a utility company (electricity, water, telecoms) the right to run services across your land. Unlike easements, wayleaves are usually personal agreements that can be termi...
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