Me and my partner are soon to complete on the purchase of a property in Milton but as a consequence of damage from a small fire at the property I have was able negotiate compensation from the seller in the sum of £3k taking the form of a deduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of amending the contract yet Clydesdale will not agree to this. Should they have been notified?

Your conveyancer being on the Clydesdale approved list is obliged to disclose to Clydesdale of any changes to the purchase price. If you prohibit your conveyancing practitioner to disclose the reduction to Clydesdale then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Clydesdale and you would have to appoint a new property lawyer for your conveyancing in Milton.

In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Milton? What am I being asked for?

It is indeed that case that the requirement set out by your lawyer has nothing to do with conveyancing in Milton. Nowadays you can not proceed with any conveyancing process without first submitting proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a council tax bill. Remember if you are supplying your driving licence as evidence of identification it needs to be both the paper section as well as the photo card part, one is not acceptable in the absence of the other.

Evidence of the origin of funds is required in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when you are asked to produce this as your conveyancing solicitor must retain this information on file. Your Milton conveyancing practitioner will require evidence of proof of funds prior to accepting any money from you into their client account and they may also ask additional queries regarding the source of monies.

I had a mortgage agreed in principle with TSB. Milton conveyancing solicitors are instructed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from TSB?

There is no definitive answer here. Have TSB done the valuation? Have you advised TSB as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the TSB conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.

After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Milton. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancing practitioner. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Shortly after, the property lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Principality conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Principality panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Milton solicitor - who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Milton postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Milton.

My partner has encouraged me to instruct his lawyers for conveyancing in Milton. Should I choose my own solicitor?

There are no two ways about it the ideal way to select a conveyancing solicitor is to seek recommendations from friends or family who have actually used the conveyancer that you are contemplating using.

The lawyers carrying out our conveyancing in Milton has sent documents to review that state the property is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all houses in Milton are registered?

Almost 100% of property in Milton is registered. An 'epitome' is basically a dossier of photocopies of documents affecting an unregistered title. Plenty of Milton conveyancing lawyers will be able to handle this type of conveyancing but in the event that uncertainty exists the usual guidance nowadays is for the vendor’s solicitor to register the title first and thereafter deal with the disposal - this undoubtedly cause a protracted conveyancing.