After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Adamsdown. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £150. A couple of days later, the lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Clydesdale 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 Clydesdale 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 digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Adamsdown solicitor - who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Kent Reliance will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Kent Reliance 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 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 Adamsdown postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Kent Reliance, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Adamsdown.

At last I have had an offer on an apartment in Adamsdown agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have offered on a property, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have instructed a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Adamsdown. What do I do now? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with RBS?

It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Adamsdown conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must check that your solicitor is on the RBS approved list. Regarding the subsequent steps this very much depends on the specifics of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market some home buyers would apply for a home loan with RBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in Adamsdown.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build apartment in Adamsdown. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.

Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Adamsdown

If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please supply a car parking plan. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.

Taking into account that I will soon part with £400,000 on a garden flat in Adamsdown I wish to have a conversation with the solicitor concerning thehouse move prior to appointing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?

We could not agree more - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you speaking to the solicitor due to be carrying out your property ownership legalities in Adamsdown.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique individual, not a file reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are provided with for your conveyancing in Adamsdown should be the figure that you are charged.

Am I better off to appoint a Adamsdown conveyancing practitioner in close proximity to the house I am hoping to buy? An old friend can execute the legal work however they are based approximately 350miles away.

The benefit of a local Adamsdown conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. Having local Adamsdown know how is a benefit. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust instructed your friend and they were happy that should outweigh using an unknown Adamsdown conveyancing solicitor just because they are based in the area.

My mum and dad cant seem to find their Adamsdown land registry title on the website. They have a vague memory fifty years ago when they purchased the property there were complications regarding the post code not being recognised in some systems.

The vast majority of properties in Adamsdown should be revealed. Have you attempted a search with just the postcode. Ordinarily it should mention all the houses and flats inside that postcode. Where recorded it will be there with a title number. If they bought 48 years ago it's conceivable it may be not yet registered. The property may still be revealed but with the title number shown 'na'. In this scenario you will need to locate the original title documentation which may be with your parent’s mortgage company.