The Wroughton conveyancing firm that just started acting on my house acquisition in Wroughton have suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I needed a lawyer on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel and my family Wroughton lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for £250 in advance. 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 should appoint new lawyers that are on the Virgin Money 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.

My husband and I have arranged a further advance on our home loan from Santander as we wish to conduct improvements to our house in Wroughton. Are we obliged to choose a high street Wroughton solicitor on the Santander conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Santander would not normally instruct a member of their conveyancing panel to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Santander list.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nottingham. I assume I don't need a Wroughton conveyancer on the Nottingham panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Nottingham mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Nottingham mortgage from the register. Nottingham, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Nottingham has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Nottingham has instructed the Land Registry to do so

Our offer on a house in Wroughton has been accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have offered on somewhere, but it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Wroughton. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with Clydesdale started?

It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Wroughton conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must ensure that your solicitor is on the Clydesdale approved list. Regarding the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market the majority of purchasers will apply for the mortgage with Clydesdale and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their conveyancer to proceed with the conveyancing in Wroughton.

How does conveyancing in Wroughton differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build residence in Wroughton contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is completed. This is because new home sellers in Wroughton usually purchase the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Wroughton or who has acted in the same development.

As co-executor for the estate of my father I am disposing of a property in Neath but I am based in Wroughton. My solicitor (approximately 200 kilometers from mehas requested that I execute a stat dec ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Wroughton to witness and place their company stamp on the document?

Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Wroughton based

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Wroughton. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Wroughton - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Wroughton - Sample of Queries before buying

What is the the remaining lease term? Be sure to investigate if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Wroughton. If you like the apartmentin Wroughton however your dog can’t live with you then you will be presented with a difficult choice. Best to be warned if redecorating or some other major work is due in the near future to be shared between the tenants and may well dramatically increase the the maintenance charges or require a one time invoice.