U-Z

U

Under Offer
A property is said to be ‘under offer’ when a seller has accepted an offer from a buyer but the exchange of contracts has not yet been reached.

Unencumbered
The ideal form of home ownership, i.e. where the property is owned outright and no mortgage is secured against it.

V

Valuation
A check carried out by the lender that finds out how much a property is worth and whether it is suitable for a mortgage. The valuation fee is usually paid by the borrower.

Variable Rate
On a variable rate mortgage, the interest rate charged by the lender goes up and down according to base rate movements and your mortgage repayments change accordingly. The variable rate will always be at a slight premium to the Bank of England base rate.

Vendor
A person selling a property to a buyer.

W

Waiver of Premium
An option within an insurance policy that allows a policyholder who has become seriously ill or disabled to not pay the premiums while continuing to be covered.

Y

Yield
For buy to let investors, this is the income generated from a property and calculated as a percentage of its value.