The Whalley conveyancing lawyers that just started acting on my house acquisition in Whalley have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel and my preferred Whalley lawyer was not. I paid them £170 on account. What do I do now?

If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will 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 HSBC 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.

Various web forums that I have visited warn that are the main reason for hinderance in Whalley house deals. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the common causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Whalley.

I decided to have a survey completed on a property in Whalley in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some banks tend refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold premises.

It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Whalley. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Do I need to be wary that 3rd parties that I am dealing with are suggesting a factory type conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Whalley conveyancing practice?

As with lots of professional services, often referrals from family and friends can be very helpful. But there are many players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, mortgage brokers and lenders might all put forward conveyancers to appoint. On occasion these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but sometimes there is an underlying financial incentive behind the endorsement. You are at liberty to select your own conveyancer. However, bear in mind that most lenders operate an approved list of law firms you have to use for the lender aspect of your transaction.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Whalley. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, however I have recently received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge as normal given that all rents and maintenance charges will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Whalley - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Many Whalley leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the block levied by the management company. If you buy the flat you will have to meet this charge, usually in instalments accross the year. This may vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to check it because on occasion it could be prohibitively expensive. Please tell me if there are any major works anticipated that could increase the service fees? Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the block?