Jargon Buster
Service charge
Service charges are payable by tenants in addition to their rent and cover a freeholder or landlord’s costs.
That could include hallway lighting, garden maintenance, insurance, agent management charges and a cash reserve for major future repairs.
Shared Ownership
Under Shared Ownership, a buyer purchases a share of a property alongside another ‘stakeholder’, usually a housing association.
The buyer takes out a mortgage for their share, while paying rent to the other ‘stakeholder’.
Sitting tenant
A tenant who has a legal right to a tenancy and security of tenure is referred to as a ‘sitting tenant’.
Properties that are purchased with sitting tenants do not entitle the buyer to vacant possession once the sale is completed.
Social Housing
Social housing refers to housing issued by the local authority, a housing association or Trust.
Stakeholder
A stakeholder is a third party or agent who is responsible for holding on to a tenant’s deposit and handing some or all of it back at the end of a tenancy agreement.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) rates
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), or ‘stamp duty’ as it’s more commonly known, is the tax levied by government on property purchases.
Stamp duty rates vary depending on the property’s purchase price and the buyer’s status, with first-time buyers and buyers of rental properties or second homes paying different rates to existing homeowners.
Stamping Tenancy
Required under the Stamps Act 1891 on payment of duty, an amount of money Agreement detailed in the Act due to the Inland Revenue.
Standing order
A standing order is set up by a tenant to pay rent directly from their bank account on regular intervals.
Statement of Account
Every time money is received from a tenant, a letting agent will send their landlord a statement of account reporting cash received, deductions and the total payment to the landlord.
Statutory Obligations
Statutory obligations refer to a landlord’s requirements and obligations through Acts of Parliament.
Subject to Contract
‘Subject to contract’ is a legal term placed on pre-contract documents.
Sublet
If a tenant renting a property lets part of the property out to someone else, this is known as subletting.
