Having sold my house in Selhurst last December but my buyer keeps SMS messaging me to say their lawyer needs to hear from mylawyer. What should have happened following completion?

Following your house sale your lawyer should send the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. Depending on the transaction, your solicitor should also confirm that the mortgage has been paid off to the buyers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion tasks unique to conveyancing in Selhurst.

The Selhurst conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Selhurst have without warning shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel and my previous Selhurst lawyer was not. I paid them £170 in advance. What should be my next steps?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would 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 Leeds Building Society 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 may be able to help.

I have been told that property searches are a common cause of stalling in Selhurst house deals. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Selhurst.

How difficult is it to switch solicitor as I have to select a firm on the Coventry Building Society conveyancing panel. I was using a local conveyancing solicitor in Selhurst round the corner but the firm is not accepted by Coventry Building Society

We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Selhurst on the Coventry Building Society panel. Please note that the conveyancers that we on the directory do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Selhurst. In making use of the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this page, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Selhurst.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Selhurst conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Selhurst conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggest that you talk with several firms including non Selhurst conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions could be useful:

If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Selhurst conveyancing firm to assist?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Selhurst premises is Flats 55, 67 & 70 Melbourne Court Anerley Road in July 2013. The tribunal calculated that the premium for the extended lease at £48,366.00 for at 55, and £88,329.00 for ats 67 and 70 combined. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 26.38 years.