Within all aspects of consumer finance: Mortgages, Loans, Credit Cards or Savings the use of jargon and accepted industry terms is widespread. Our comprehensive jargon buster explains what those terms mean in an effort to demystify consumer finance.
Land Registry
A record of property, ownership and the mortgage is registered in a central register at HM land registry.
Land Registry Fees
A fee payable to the land registry to change an entry in their records following a transaction involving registered land. This can be following a change of ownership or just a change of mortgage.
Late Charge
A fee the lender imposes for receiving payments late.
Late Payment
A payment a lender receives after the due date has passed.
Leasehold
The land on which the property is built is not owned directly by the property purchaser and is held under a lease for a fixed period.
Legal Charge
The means by which lenders can enforce their rights to a property should a borrower default on their mortgage payments.
Legal Mortgage Fee
The fee charged by the solicitors acting for the lender in creating their legal charge over the property.
Lender
The company providing the money to fulfil a request for credit in the form of a mortgage or loan.
Lender's Arrangement Fee
Fee for arranging a loan passed on by the buyer to the lender.
Liabilities
Debts and outgoing payments that you are legally responsible to pay.
Libor
London interbank offered rate is the rate at which banks notionally buy and sell money to each other. It varies from day to day and is closely linked to base rate.
Life Company
A life assurance company.
Life Insurance
A policy payable upon the death of the insured, usually referred to as assurance.
Lifetime Tracker Mortgages
A Lifetime Tracker Mortgage will track the Bank Rate for the entire life of your mortgage by a guaranteed maximum percentage.
Loan
The amount to be borrowed also known as an Advance.
Loan Application
Form you fill out to apply for a loan.
Loan Application Fee
Lenders fee for a loan application.
Loan Authority Search Fee
This is the fee payable for the local authority search.
Loan Consolidation
A large loan is taken to help pay for smaller loans held elsewhere.
Loan Illustration
Is the example of the monthly cost of a mortgage and other expenses associated with the loan such as set-up costs.
Loan To Value (LTV)
This is the maximum amount the lender is prepared to lend in relation to the value of the property. For example if a borrower is seeking a loan of £150,000 on a property worth £200,000 they have to find a mortgage that has a LTV of 75% or more.