Land Registration

A government department which registers details of any land transactions and issues to do with ownership of property in England and Wales.

LAPR

Life Assurance Premium Relief.

Lease

The lease is a document which contains the rights and the covenants (rules) on behalf of both the landlord and the tenant which regulate the use of the property.

Leasehold

When you buy a leasehold property essentially you are buying nothing more than the right to occupy a building for a given length of time. You will have to pay ground rent and maintenance in addition to a one-off payment that buys ownership of the lease until sold or it runs out. The amount of alterations you can make to the property varies accordance with the lease and you may well have other conditions imposed upon you by the landlord. As a rule look to buy a lease with over 50 years remaining.

Leasehold Land

Leasehold land is land that is held under a lease. The land will eventually revert to the freehold owner, although there has been some modification of this right to repossession. This is the most common way for blocks of offices to be owned. The landlord maintains

Possession of the common parts and creates separate leases for each office. The ownership of each office may subsequently change as leases are assigned.

Lease Purchase

This is a variation on leasing. At the end of the lease period the goods become the lessee’s property.

Lease Term

The number of months a lease is in effect.

Legal Charge

A legal document held by the Land Registry that identifies who has a claim on your property. The main lender will normally be identified as the first charge (i.e., have first claim to the property) but there may also be other charges registered.

Lender

The person or institution who grants a loan.

Lessor

The person who grants a lease.

Level Premium

Rating method in which the premium level remains the same throughout the life of the policy.

Life Annuity

A stream of payments intended to continue during the annuitant’s lifetime and to cease automatically at the annuitant’s death.

Life Assurance Premium Relief

You will receive Income Tax Relief on life assurance premiums. The relief is granted by means of a deduction from the premium, which is paid to the insurance company net of this deduction. The insurance company later claims the balance from the Inland Revenue so the amount paid and, if appropriate, invested on behalf of the policyholder is the full gross figure as shown in the policy document.

Life Insurance ISA

Individual Savings Accounts that invest in Life Insurance products. The definition of Life Insurance products can include Life Insurance Savings Plans designed specifically for ISAs.

Lower Earnings Limit

The minimum amount that must be earned in any period before National Insurance contributions are payable.

LTV

A percentage expressing the size of your mortgage to the value of house. For example house value=?100000 mortgage size=?90000. Loan-to-Value=90%. Some mortgages may only be on offer if you are borrowing less than a set proportion of the value of your house. Many lenders offer more favourable deals to customers who are contributing a sizeable deposit themselves.

Lump Sum

A settlement whereby the beneficiary receives the entire proceeds of a policy at once rather than in instalments.