The Romsey conveyancing firm that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Romsey have without warning closed. I only went with them because I needed a firm on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel and my preferred Romsey lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What do I do now?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation 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 Coventry BS 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.

Have purchased a a semi-detached house in Romsey , What is the estimated time for the Land Registry to register my ownership? My Romsey conveyancing solicitor has been painfully slow, so I want to be sure that my name is recorded.

As far as conveyancing in Romsey is concerned, registration is no faster or slower than anywhere else in England and Wales. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can adjust depending on the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any 3rd persons or bodies. As of today approximately 80% of such applications are completed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to protracted hold-ups. Registration takes place after the buyer is living at the property so 'speed' is not always top priority but if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your lawyers could speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.

Taking into account that I will soon spend over three hundred thousand on 3 bedroom house in Romsey I would like to have a conversation with the lawyer about mytransaction in advance of instructing the firm. Can this be arranged?

This is something that we encourage - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the lawyer who will be doing your property ownership legalities in Romsey.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a file reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are provided with for your conveyancing in Romsey should be the figure that you end up paying.

Am I better off to use a Romsey conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am purchasing? We have a good friend who can execute the conveyancing but his firm is located 400kilometers away.

The benefit of a high street Romsey conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to execute documents, hand in your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were impressed that must outweigh using an unknown Romsey conveyancing lawyer just because they are local.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Romsey both have approximately fifty years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Romsey. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease deteriorates and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena.

Romsey Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What is the the remaining lease term? If a Romsey lease has fewer than eighty years it will impact the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Romseylease extensions you would be be obliged to have owned the premises for a couple of years in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension. How is the lease structured?