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UK House Buyers Glossary - S

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

• Screed - a thin layer of mortar or concrete layed to finish a floor (make it level). Also, a small strip of wood used as a plastering guide.
• Service charges - charges which leaseholders pay to a management company to cover the maintenance, insurance and repair of the building. This is common for blocks of flats.
• Sole agency - the agreement to sell your property using just one estate agent.
• Squatter - someone who gains entry to a vacant property without permission with the intention of living there.
• Stamp duty - a goverment tax which levied on property purchases above a certain value.
• Stretcher - the longest face of a brick.
• Stucco - external plastering, often moulded and painted to appear like stone.
• Stud Wall - an internal partition wall constructed from timber sections and covered with a finishing material such as plasterboard.