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UK House Buyers Glossary - P

This page of our online a to z glossary is for UK house buyers terms beginning with the letter 'P'.

• Party Wall - this is the common wall between two properties or houses.
• Payment protection insurance - if you become unable to work at anytime time, a payment protection insurance policy will cover your mortgage repayments.
• Pebbledash - external plaster which has had small stones (pebbles) added to it to give a rough finish. Pebbledash is normally used on the outside of a house or on garden walls.
• Pension mortgage - a mortgage where the repayment takes the form of a pension plan.
• Permitted development rights - the right to carry out certain alterations to a property without having to get planning permission.
• Pitch - the angle or slope of a roof.
• Plaster - a mixture of lime, cement, sand and water with a strengthening agent. Plaster is used to cover walls and ceilings.
• Plasterboard - made from sheets of plaster sandwiched between paper. Plasterboard is used to surface walls and partitions.
• Pointing - filling the joints in masonry with mortar to improve appearance and protect against the weather.
• Porch - a roof structure forming a small room to shelter the entrance of a house.
• Preliminary enquiries - these are the questions asked by the buyer's solicitor before contracts are exchanged.
• Principal - the amount of the loan against which the interest to be payed is calculated.
• Private treaty - where an estate agent advertises the property for sale and quotes a definitive asking price. Private treaty is the most common way of selling a house in England and Wales.