Panel.
Most lenders use a set number of solicitors, surveyors and valuers. This is the ‘panel’. Normally you must use a professional on this list.

Pane.
A sheet of glass usually framed with timber.

Party wall.
A wall shared between two properties, such as is the case with semi-detached houses.

Pay rate.
The rate of interest you pay on a home loan.

Payment Holidays.
No payments are made in a month that suits you.

Percentage advance.
The size of the mortgage worked out as a percentage of the price you are paying for the property.

Permanent Health Insurance (PHI).
If you cannot work because of illness or an accident, this pays a regular monthly amount until you retire, or return to work.

Permitted Development Rights.
The things you can do to a property without planning permission. For example, extensions are allowed up to 15% of the size of the property.

Pile.
A deep foundation. These are formed by creating a hole deep enough to locate solid sub-soil. The hole is usually filled with concrete and reinforced or a section of solid steel is installed.

Pink land.
Land with a 'residential use class'. The term is used largely by local authority planners and originates from the ink colour used to identify residential development areas on maps and plans.

Pitch.
The angle or slope of a roof or staircase.

Planning permission.
Authority granted by the local council for land to be developed or additions made to an existing property, usually with certain conditions attached.

Plate.
A length of timber or steel placed either on top of a wall to support the roof trusses (a wall plate) or fixed to a floor so that studs or a timber-framed partition can be installed (a floor plate).

Portable mortgage.
You can transfer your mortgage to a new home without penalty.

Precast concrete.
Concrete components cast in a factory or on site prior to being placed in their final positions.

Preliminary enquiries.
The questions asked before exchange of contracts.

Principal.
The amount of money that has been borrowed and on which interest is calculated.

Private Treaty.
The property will change hands without appearing in an estates agent’s window, or in an advertisement, or by being sold at an auction.

Profile boards.
Boards of about a meter long used to transfer the plan outline of a building onto the ground. They are held securely in place by timber stakes. Lines are stretched between saw-cuts or marks, so the position of a wall can be fixed.

Property register.
One of the three parts of a land or charge certificate describing the property and rights associated with it.

Public Liability Insurance.
This covers injury or death to anyone on or around your property.

Purlin.
Positioned half-way up the slope of a roof, purlins are timber beams installed to support the rafters.