Me and my husband are purchasing a flat in Hounslow. My property lawyer has never been on on the mortgage company conveyancing list. Am I still permitted to appoint my Hounslow conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?

Your options include

• Complete the purchase with your preferred Hounslow lawyer but your bank will no doubt retain a conveyancer on their approved panel. This will result in additional cost and likely interruption.
• Appoint a fresh solicitor to conduct the conveyancing, making sure they are on the bank conveyancing panel.
• Appeal to your conveyancer to apply to join the lender panel

I am about to exchange on the purchase of a house in Hounslow but as a consequence of wreckage from the recent storms I have managed to agree recompense from the current proprietors in the sum of £3k in the form of a reduction in the price. I had intended this to be addressed as part of the conveyancing process but Skipton will not agree to this. Why were they involved?

Any conveyancer being on the Skipton approved list is required to disclose to Skipton of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your conveyancer to report the reduction to Skipton then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Skipton and you would have to appoint a new property lawyer for your conveyancing in Hounslow.

The Hounslow conveyancing lawyers that just started acting on my house acquisition in Hounslow have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and my preferred Hounslow lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What do I do now?

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 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 Lloyds 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 assist.

I am assisting my aunt sell her flat in Hounslow. Does the conveyancing solicitor commission the EPC or should I organise this?

After the abolition of HIPs, energy performance certificates was maintained a mandatory component of selling a property. An energy assessment must be to hand before the property is put on the market. It is not something that lawyers ordinarily arrange. Where you are using a Hounslow conveyancing solicitor they may help arrange energy performance certificates due to their contacts with long established Hounslow energy assessors

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as a 1st time buyer of a garden flat in Hounslow. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Hounslow?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will arrange to send the completion advance to the owner’s solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be invited to collect the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

My solicitor has informed me that breach of easement insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Hounslow conveyancing?

The right level of breach of easement indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Halifax and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.

Taking into account that I am about to part with £400,000 on 3 bedroom house in Hounslow I would like to have a conversation with the conveyancer concerning theconveyancing in advance of instructing the firm. Can this be arranged?

We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the solicitor due to be conducting your property ownership legalities in Hounslow.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a case reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for your conveyancing in Hounslow should be the figure that you end up paying.