We note that you have a search directory listing law firms on the Santander conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for our own conveyancing in Cardiff?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Santander conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Cardiff.

I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Cardiff. I now require my file however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Cardiff of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I was recommended by a few estate agents in Cardiff to select a solicitor on your site. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to recommend your site over another?

We refuse to make any referral fee for directing people our way. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing practitioner in Cardiff for my home move. Can I review a solicitor's record with the profession’s regulator?

One may find presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations arising from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find information Pre 2008, or to check a solicitors history, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could recorded call for training requirements.

We own a leasehold flat in Cardiff. Conveyancing was finished in 2011. I have heard that I should not allow the the remaining lease term to get too short. What is the reasoning?

Cardiff domestic long term leases are for a fixed term - usually 99 years when they commenced. However many appartments in Cardiff were constructed or converted 30 or more years ago and so these leases now have less than 80 years remaining. This may seem like a long time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders on the whole need leases to have at least seventy five years left to adequate security. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are nearing 75 years. To maximise your property value you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. Furthermore advantages to doing so before the lease hits eighty years as when the lease is less than 80 years the premium you have to pay to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.