Glossary

Breach of Conditions Notice

A notice served by a local planning authority where they suspect that a planning condition linked to planning permission has been breached.

Bridging Finance

This is a loan which is taken out by someone who wants to buy a house before they have sold theirs and therefore needs some funds to "bridge" the gap in time.

Building Regulations

The Building Regulations are part of the Building Act 1984 and are the standards to be complied with for all Buildings. They are a set of rules which are in place to ensure that any new build property or alterations to an existing house are done to a certain standard. Details of a property's Building Regulation compliance can often be found in the Local Authority Search.

Bus Priority Measures

This is designed to give Bus priority on some routes through traffic management measures.

Buy to Let

This is when a property is bought by someone with the explicit intention to rent it out. You need to let your mortgage company know if this is why you're buying a house as they have some specific mortgages for this type of purchase.

Banker's Draft

This is a paper document issued by a bank which is a guaranteed amount of money.  It can be used to transfer a large amount of money between buyer and seller as it is a guaranteed payment.

Bankruptcy Search

This is a search often carried out by mortgage lenders to find out whether an individual has ever been made bankrupt.  Bankruptcy can affect your ability to take out a standard mortgage however there are many lenders who now specialise in it (it is referred to as the Sub-Prime market).

Beneficial Owner

This is when a person has some form of rights to a property even though the legal title of the property belongs to someone else.  It is often used when a property is being held in trust for someone.

Boundary / Boundaries

These are the lines that mark the limit or extent of a property.  They are often found on the Land Registry Plan.