My fiance and I are planning to acquire a home in Milton Keynes and are in fact using a Milton Keynes conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Britannia have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Milton Keynes lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Milton Keynes lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Can the conveyancing solicitors via your comparison service carry out attended exchange conveyancing in Milton Keynes?
There are a few conveyancing specialists who can conduct 24hr exchanges. You should contact us to get a conveyancing quote and details as to dates.
What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Milton Keynes
There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Milton Keynes and Solicitor practices in Milton Keynes to choose from It is important to make clear that the two are regulated professionals specialising in the legal aspects of transferring property. They may both also conduct other property legal work such as remortgage conveyancing, enfranchisement and transfer of equity conveyancing.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Milton Keynes. Do I receive the keys to the house on the completion date from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Milton Keynes?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Milton Keynes. Your solicitors will arrange to send the completion advance to the vendor’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be invited to pick up the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. Usually this happens between 1 and 3pm.
My aunt advised me that in purchasing a property in Milton Keynes there could be a number of restrictions prohibiting external alterations to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Milton Keynes which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Milton Keynes should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Will my solicitor be raising questions regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Milton Keynes.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Milton Keynes. There are those who buy a property in Milton Keynes, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a various searches that may be initiated by the purchaser or by their solicitors which will give them a better understanding of the risks in Milton Keynes. The standard information given to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard inquiry of the seller to discover if the premises has historically flooded. If the residence has been flooded in past and is not notified by the seller, then a purchaser may commence a compensation claim resulting from an misleading response. The purchaser’s lawyers will also carry out an environmental report. This should disclose whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be carried out.
How does conveyancing in Milton Keynes differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Milton Keynes come to us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because builders in Milton Keynes tend to buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Milton Keynes or who has acted in the same development.
I have been recommended by a number of selling agents in Milton Keynes to select a solicitor on your site. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over and above another?
We don’t give any commission for directing people our way. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.