What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Queensferry? Is this really warranted?

Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with prior to agreeing to accepting their conveyancing retainer. The Terms of Engagement that you are required to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lender will also require certain documents to be checked. If you are unwilling to provide identification documents, your solicitor can not take you on as a client.

The Queensferry conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Queensferry have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a firm on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and my preferred Queensferry lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What are my options?

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 reasons beyond your control. 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 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 may be able to help.

Will our solicitor be raising enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Queensferry.

Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers conducting conveyancing in Queensferry. There are those who purchase a house in Queensferry, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.

Conveyancers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of searches that may be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Queensferry. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual inquiry of the seller to discover whether the property has suffered from flooding. If the property has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the owner, then a purchaser could commence a legal claim for losses as a result of such an incorrect answer. A buyer’s lawyers may also order an enviro report. This will disclose whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be conducted.

I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Queensferry before appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks may not grant a loan on a flying freehold premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can look into this further via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Queensferry. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Queensferry to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.

My work colleague mentioned that when choosing a conveyancing firm they must be approved by your lender. I am new to the process but I have an AIP with Santander and I already have a local conveyancing solicitor in Queensferry on standby. Can Halifax require an approved solicitor to be selected? If so, where do I find that list for my conveyancing in Queensferry?

You need to use a solicitor that is on the Halifax panel. Simply ring your preferred Queensferry conveyancing solicitor to check if they are on the Halifax panel. If they are not approved you have a couple of choices open to you here:

• Proceed with your chosen Queensferry solicitor but Halifax will undoubtedly appoint a conveyancing practitioner from their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional fees together with potential interruption.
• Choose a fresh conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, not forgetting to check that they are on the Halifax conveyancing panel.
• Convince your lawyer to do everything within their powers to get accepted on the Halifax conveyancing panel.