The Blakeney conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Blakeney have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I needed a lawyer on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel and my previous Blakeney lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What should be my next steps?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. 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 Kent Reliance 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.

We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Principality as we intend to carry out improvements to our home in Blakeney. Are we obliged to select a bricks and mortar Blakeney solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

Principality would not normally appoint 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 Principality panel.

My wife and I are at the point of looking at apartments in Blakeney and I am about to put in an offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Coventry BS.

It would be sensible to start your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the EA. As you are taking out a mortgage with Coventry BS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel.

I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in February 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Aldermore are being a right pain. The Blakeney solicitor who is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Aldermore are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Aldermore have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Aldermore have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Aldermore may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I acquired my house on 7 June and the transaction details is not yet on the land registry website. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Blakeney advises it should be recorded in a couple of weeks. Are transfers in Blakeney uniquely lengthy to register?

As far as conveyancing in Blakeney registration is no faster or slower than the rest of the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can vary subject to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry need to notify any interested persons or bodies. Currently roughly 80% of such applications are fully addressed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Registration occurs after the new owner has moved in to the premises thus an expedited registration is not typically top priority but where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer must communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.

My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, but the estate agent has warned us that the owners will only proceed if we use their chosen lawyers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Blakeney

It is improbable the vendors are driving this. If they want ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine purchaser is not the way to achieve this. Speak to the vendors direct and explain that (a)you are motivated purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you are going to use your preferred Blakeney conveyancing firm - not the ones that will provide the estate agent a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing thresholds pre-set by senior management.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Blakeney which have approximately fifty years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area.

I bought a garden flat in Blakeney, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2007. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Blakeney with an extended lease are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2090

You have 66 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.