The Holland Park conveyancing lawyers that just started acting on my house acquisition in Holland Park have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my previous Holland Park lawyer was not. I paid them £170 on account. What do I do now?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Nationwide 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 lawyers should be in a position to help.

I can see plenty of information on this site regarding conveyancing in Holland Park but can you isolate your top tip for appointing the right conveyancer in Holland Park

Do not opt for the lowest Holland Park conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in advance.

My partner and I have arranged a further advance on our mortgage from Principality as we want to carry out improvements to our house in Holland Park. Do we need to choose a local Holland Park solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

Principality don't usually appoint a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Principality conveyancing panel.

I can not work out if my bank requires a lease extension. I have telephoned my Holland Park building society branch on numerous occasions and was informed it wasn't an issue and they will lend. My Holland Park conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they would not lend based on their specific requirements. Who do I believe?

Provided that the lawyer is on the lender panel, she or he must follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

I am planning on selling our property in Holland Park and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a national conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Holland Park. We have lived in Holland Park for many years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to get confirmation that the buyers are looking for.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)

My wife and I have a semi-detached Victorian property in Holland Park. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Bank of Ireland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Holland Park and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Holland Park. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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.

Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Holland Park

Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified.