The owners of the home we are purchasing have instructed a conveyancing firm in Buckingham who has insisted on a lock out contract with a deposit two thousand pounds. Are such agreements sensible?

This kind of contract isn't frequently used in Buckingham, conveyancers are often found to direct clients away from them as they detract from the primary objective, namely conveyancing and if you end up having your deposit forfeited then the lawyer at best left with an upset client and at worst a litigious one. In addition, there is no guarantee that just because the seller has signed a lock out contract they will complete the sale with you. They may be in contravention of the contract if they receive sufficient incentive to do so because a wronged buyer with the benefit of a lockoutcontract will still be obliged establish consequential losses from the breach and these may not equalise the financial upside that the owner may gain by breaking the agreement, however morally shameful it undoubtedly is.

My home in Buckingham is up for sale and I have a buyer. Will my property lawyer need to be on the RBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the RBS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently in recent years.

Will my conveyancer be making enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Buckingham.

Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors conducting conveyancing in Buckingham. There are those who purchase a property in Buckingham, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Lawyers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that may be undertaken by the purchaser or by their solicitors which can figure out the risks in Buckingham. The standard completed inquiry forms supplied to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual question of the vendor to discover whether the premises has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not revealed by the vendor, then a purchaser could bring a legal claim for losses stemming from an inaccurate answer. A purchaser’s conveyancers will also commission an environmental search. This will indicate whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be carried out.

I am one month into a residential purchase having been directed to solicitors by the estate agent to do our conveyancing in Buckingham. I am am very disappointed with the quality of service. Can you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?

A solicitor would have to be really bad to suggest changing them. Has the mortgage been sent? In the event that it has you will need to inform them of the new contact details and ensure the mortgage documents are issued to the new lawyers. Your conveyancer should be on the banks approved list to avoid supplemental costs and delays. So that should be your first question of the new conveyancers. The find a solicitor tool should help you find a lender approved solicitor for your home move in Buckingham

I am just shy of a 10% deposit on my house purchase in Buckingham , but I am keen go ahead. Do I have options?

You can agree a smaller deposit. Many sellers will accept a lower deposit or even no deposit for a first time buyer or 100% mortgage. Be aware though that if you fail to complete you will still need to hand over a minimum of 10% of the purchase price regardless of how much deposit was agreed.

You can also agree a simultaneous exchange and completion as no deposit is required for this however neither party will be tied in until completion actually takes place and it can be risky if sellers change their mind at the last minute