The Stockwell conveyancing lawyers that just started acting on my purchase in Stockwell have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a lawyer on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and my preferred Stockwell lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What do I do now?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation 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 solicitors should be in a position to assist.

A colleague advised me that in buying a property in Stockwell there could be various restrictions preventing external alterations to a property. Is this right?

We are aware of anumerous of properties in Stockwell which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Stockwell should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I'm the single recipient of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Stockwell. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in July. I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship could be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in July. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The CML handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you may be affected by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the lender as this provision chiefly exists to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of property.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Stockwell. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £175. Soon after, the conveyancer called me to say that they were not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Aldermore panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I have recentlydiscovered that Stirling Law have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Stockwell for a purchase of a leasehold flat 12 months ago. How can I check that the property is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest method to check if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Stockwell conveyancing specialists.

I am buying a new build house in Stockwell benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not disclose to my conveyancer about this extras as it would impact my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

My wife and I have chosen a Stockwell conveyancing solicitor for our home move (first time buyers) and have noticed in the engagement letter that they are not overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority. Am I right to be worried or is that usually the case with property lawyer?

We can't see why they should be. Most lawyer don't lend money. You should check that they are regulated by the SRA, who set stringent stipulations in relation to amounts sitting on client account.