The Hilton conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Hilton have suddenly closed. I chose them because I needed a lawyer on the HSBC conveyancing panel and my previous Hilton lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What should be my next steps?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the HSBC conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to assist.

This question may be naive but I am new to the home moving as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Hilton. Do I receive the keys to the house on the completion date from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Hilton?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to pick up the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this happens early afternoon.

How can we know in advance if a Hilton conveyancing solicitor on the Santander panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in Hilton getting recommendations is a sensible starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always recommend that you speak with the lawyer handling your transaction.

I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in September 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Nottingham are being problematic. The Hilton solicitor who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Nottingham are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Nottingham have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Nottingham have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nottingham may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I acquired my apartment on 10 June and the transaction details is yet to be registered. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Hilton expressed confidence that it should be dealt with inside ten days. Are transfers in Hilton uniquely lengthy to register?

There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Hilton registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can differ subject to the party submitting the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry need to notify any other parties. As of today approximately three quarters of such applications are completed within two weeks but occasionally there can be extensive delays. Registration is effected once the new owner has moved in to the premises thus 'speed' is not usually primary concern but if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer should communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.

I am buying a new build house in Hilton with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not inform my lawyer about this deal as it may put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.

The lawyers handling our conveyancing in Hilton has sent papers to review that reveal that the land is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all houses in Hilton should be registered?

Almost all property in Hilton is registered. An 'epitome' is basically a dossier of photocopies of documents affecting an unregistered title. Plenty of Hilton conveyancing practitioners will be capable of dealing with such matters but if any uncertainty exists the usual recommendation nowadays is for the vendor’s solicitor to deal with the registration formalities first and thereafter deal with the transfer to the buyer - this undoubtedly cause a prolonged conveyancing.