We are approaching an exchange on a house in Olney and my mum and dad have transferred the 10% deposit to my solicitor. I am now informed that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my lawyer needs to make a notification to my lender. I am advised that, in also acting for the bank he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I informed the mortgage company concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really necessary for him to raise this?

The property lawyer is legally required to clarify with mortgage company to make sure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. The solicitor can only notify this to your lender if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as a 1st time purchaser of a garden flat in Olney. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my lawyer? If so, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Olney?

On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Olney. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the purchase money to the seller's conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be able to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Olney. I have a mortgage offer with Skipton. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Skipton, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Olney. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £175. A couple of days later, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the RBS 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 RBS 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.

I have been told that property searches are the primary cause of obstruction in Olney house deals. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Olney.

I'm buying a new build house in Olney with a mortgage from Godiva Mortgages Ltd. The builders would not move on the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my solicitor about this deal as it may impact my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Olney. I have stumble across a site which looks to be the ideal answer If it is possible to get all formalities completed via phone that would be preferable. Should I be concerned? What should out be looking out for?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?