The Dulwich conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my purchase in Dulwich have without warning shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel and my family Dulwich lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away 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 will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Bank of Ireland 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.

Do I choose a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Dulwich?

There are many recorded licenced Conveyancers in Dulwich and Solicitor firms in Dulwich who provide Conveyancing services It is important to make clear that both are regulated professionals specialising in the legal aspects of the home buying process. They may both also handle associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.

Can you help - my lawyer says that lack of building regulations insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Dulwich conveyancing?

The right level of lack of building regulations indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Nationwide Building Society and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.

I'm the only recipient of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Dulwich. The Dulwich property was put into my name in June. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be considered the same way as though I had purchased the property in June. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The CML handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be caught by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the lender as this requirement chiefly exists to capture subsales or the quick reselling of property.

Do commercial conveyancing searches disclose planned roadworks that could affect a commercial site in Dulwich?

Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Dulwich will perform a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers spend in researching accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Dulwich. The search result provides definitive information on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Dulwich.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Dulwich it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately may result in delays to Dulwich commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not conducted for domestic conveyancing in Dulwich.

In my capacity as executor for the will of my aunt I am disposing of a residence in Swansea but reside in Dulwich. My lawyer (based 200 kilometers from mehas requested that I execute a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing practitioner in Dulwich to attest this legal document for me?

strictly speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Dulwich based

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Dulwich from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Dulwich can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
A minority of Dulwich leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Dulwich conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

Following years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Dulwich. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Dulwich conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Dulwich premises is 60 Taymount Grange Taymount Rise in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the premium at £13,346 for a lease extension of a further 90 years This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 64 years.