This is the contractual relationship in which one person or company represents another. In the case of estate agency, the agent represents the vendor. To comply with the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 Act, the Agent must have all paperwork signed individually in the spaces provided and returned before marketing can commence, or the property can be advertised for sale.

We are duty bound to carry out due diligence on you to confirm your identity as prescribed by the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. This information will be processed by the Agent and their staff only to ensure compliance with the Money Laundering Regulation’s and will be shared with your appointed Conveyancing Lawyer. These consist of checking your identity and residency status for a vendor on signing an Agency Agreement and prior to us as the Agent being able to market your property for sale; for a buyer this must be completed prior to us as the Agent being able to progress the offer. Some of our branches use an online electronic verification service: This system allows us to verify you from basic details using electronic data, however it is not a credit check of any kind so will have no effect on you or your credit history. You understand that we will undertake a search with Experian for the purposes of verifying your identity. To do so Experian may check the details you supply against any particulars on any database (public or otherwise) to which they have access. They may also use your details in the future to assist other companies for verification purposes. A record of the search will be retained.

Someone who is considering buying or renting a property, who may become a purchaser or tenant. When that person contacts a branch, the agent registers their details on RealCube - contact details, price ranges and purchasing ability, type of property that the applicant is looking for and assesses their motivation (time scale) to move. The applicant is then matched with properties matching their requirements.

A chain occurs when more than one sale and purchase are linked together and are dependent on one another for completion. The end of the chain is reached when the purchaser is not dependent upon the sale of a property in order to proceed. An agent should always contact other agents up and down the chain in order to establish exactly who is at the bottom of the chain, and this information should be recorded

This occurs when an agent is put into a position where they may benefit from more than one earning event in a transaction and it may, therefore, be implied that they have not given impartial advice. Under the Estate Agents Act 1979, they have a duty to declare any conflict of interest.

A legal document setting out the terms under which a sale will take place.

These occur when more than one purchaser wishes to purchase the same property and the vendor contracts to both of them. It is likely that the price to each purchaser will be the same, but each contract may be slightly different

Are made as a token of good faith by the purchaser and are fully refundable on demand. If taken, they must be done in such a way as complies with the provisions of the Estate Agents Act 1979. Legal representatives must be notified if a deposit is taken so that completion monies can be correctly calculated.

A liability imposed on the owners of a property which is binding on subsequent owners of it.

An umbrella term used to describe mortgage arrangements and insurance policies which are offered to clients and customers.

Someone who guarantees an obligation of another. For example, if a person was below an acceptable age to take out a mortgage, the building society may request one of the parents to act as guarantor. This makes the parent personally responsible for the debt should the child default on payments.