The Llanrumney conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my purchase in Llanrumney have without warning shut down. I chose them because I needed a firm on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and my previous Llanrumney lawyer was not. I paid them money on account. What should be my next steps?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them 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 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 help.

A colleague suggested that if I am buying in Llanrumney I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Llanrumney conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Llanrumney around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Llanrumney Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Llanrumney.

Me and my brother have a 4 bedroom Georgian house in Llanrumney. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Skipton Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Skipton Building Society to clarify?

You should read 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 Llanrumney and other areas of 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 mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Llanrumney is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Llanrumney are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Llanrumney you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Llanrumney may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Llanrumney. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Llanrumney should include some of the following:

The length of the lease term. You should receive guidance as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark Ground rent - how much and when is collected, and also know whether this is subject to change You should be advised what counts as a Nuisance in the lease What remedies are open the freeholder should you have violated the provisions of the lease? Additions to the premises

I purchased a ground floor flat in Llanrumney, conveyancing was carried out in 2009. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding flats in Llanrumney with over 90 years remaining are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2090

With 66 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.