abbreviation

bedrooms: used in advertisements for houses and flats

noun

money that someone borrows when they have bought a house but have not yet sold their own house

noun

a financial organization in the UK in which people invest money to earn interest, and from which they can borrow money to buy a house or flat. A building society is similar to a bank but all its customers have a share in owning it.

noun

an office of one of these organizations

noun

a situation in which you cannot sell your house until the person whose house you are buying has bought their new house. This situation can involve many people because the sale of each person’s house depends on the sale of the next

noun

the final part of the process of buying or selling a house, when you become the new legal owner of the house

noun

a document that shows that the person who has just bought a property is now its legal owner

noun

the legal process by which someone becomes the new owner of a property

noun

a mortgage with an endowment policy that is intended to pay back the money you have borrowed after a particular number of years

noun

a type of insurance policy that you pay money to for an agreed period. At the end of this time, the money that you have invested is used for paying a large amount of money that you have borrowed, especially a mortgage.

noun

the value of a property after you have taken away the amount left to pay on the mortgage (=money borrowed to buy it)

noun

the process of forcing someone to leave the house they are living in, usually because they have not paid their rent

noun

an arrangement in which someone completely owns a building or a piece of land

adjective, adverb

owned under a freehold arrangement

verb

if you are gazumped, someone who had agreed to sell their house to you sells it to someone else for more money

noun

money paid by someone who lives or works in a building to the owner of the land that the building is on

noun

an amount of money that a bank lends someone to buy a house

noun

the activity of trying to find a house to live in, especially one that you want to buy

noun

the land that someone owns

noun

a process in which land is given or sold at low prices to ordinary people, so that it is not owned only by a few rich people

noun

a legal contract in which you agree to pay to use someone else’s building, land, or equipment for a specific period of time

noun

an agreement in which you continue to use your property after you sell it, while making regular payments to the new owner

noun

a house or flat that you lease

noun

the use of property by leasing it

noun

owned or used for a specific period of time according to a lease

noun

a period of time in which a house or flat is rented to someone

noun

a legal agreement in which you borrow money from a bank in order to buy a house. You pay back your mortgage by making monthly payments

noun

the amount of money that you borrow in a mortgage agreement

noun

a situation in which your house has lost value and is now worth less money than the amount that you have borrowed as a mortgage

adjective

not living in a house that you own

noun

a period of time when you can go to look at a house that is for sale without making an arrangement to go there

adjective

a house that is owner-occupied is lived in by the person who owns it

noun

a very small rent

noun

an agreement to sell property that is made directly between the person selling the property and the person buying it

noun

a tax that you pay based on the value of the land and buildings you own

noun

rent that is unfairly high

noun

an amount of money that you pay regularly for using a house, room, office etc that belongs to someone else

noun

a period of time during which people refuse to pay rent for the place where they are living in order to protest against something

noun

a reduced rent that you pay to keep your house, flat etc when you are not living in it, so that you can live in it when you return

noun

a building society

noun

an amount of money that people who live in flats pay for services such as cleaning and keeping the garden tidy

noun

a contract that allows someone to rent a flat, house, or office from a person who is renting it from someone else

noun

an examination of a house done by an expert for someone who wants to buy it

noun

a written statement that gives the results of this examination

verb

to examine an area of land in order to decide where buildings will go, or where the edges of someone’s property are

noun

someone whose job is to examine a house or other building to see if it is in good condition, especially for someone who wants to buy it. The American word is appraiser.

noun

the right to use a flat, building, or a piece of land that you rent from the person who owns it

noun

the period of time for which you rent a place or piece of land

noun

an official document that shows who legally owns a building or piece of land

noun

the fact that no one is living in a house when the new owner buys it

noun

adjective

adverb

to tell someone officially that they must leave a place that they are renting

available to be rented

if a house or flat is under offer, someone has offered to buy it