The Highams Park conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my purchase in Highams Park have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a firm on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and my preferred Highams Park lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?

If you have an estate agent involved then let them know 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 should appoint new lawyers that are on the Co-operative 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.

The deeds to our home can not be found. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Highams Park 5 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?

You no longer need to have the physical deeds to establish that you are the owner of your registered land or premises, given that the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Highams Park is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can impart?

Flying freeholds in Highams Park are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Highams Park you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Highams Park may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.

Should I choose a Highams Park conveyancing solicitor based in the area that I am buying? I have an old university friend who can deal with the conveyancing however her office is over three hundred kilometers drive away.

The benefit of a local Highams Park conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute documents, hand in your identification documents and pester them if necessary. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and the majority were happy that must outweigh using an unfamiliar Highams Park conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being local.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Highams Park. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Highams Park - 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.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Highams Park conveyancing firm to represent me?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Highams Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Highams Park premises is 48 Greenleaf Road in December 2009. the lessees sought to exercise their right to purchase the freehold from the landlord by way of collective enfranchisement in accordance with the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.The landlord could not be found.A vesting order was granted from the Bow County Court on 10 September 2007 (Claim No: 8BO04141). The Tribunal held that the premium to be paid was £3,850 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 104 years.