My wife and I are getting closer to an exchange on a flat in Holmfirth and my mum and dad have sent the 10% deposit to my conveyancer. I am now advised that as the deposit has not arrived from me my solicitor needs to disclose this to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the mortgage company he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I advised the lender about my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for this now to delay the deal?

The solicitor is legally required to check with mortgage company to ensure that they understand that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only disclose this to your mortgage company if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

The Holmfirth conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my purchase in Holmfirth have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I needed a solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my previous Holmfirth lawyer was not. I paid them £170 on account. What do I do now?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know immediately 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 should appoint new lawyers that are on the Nationwide 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 solicitors should be in a position to help.

If you had a top tip for selecting a conveyancing solicitor in Holmfirth what would it be?

It would be unwise to be swayed by the lowest Holmfirth conveyancing fees. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in advance.

We previously selected conveyancing lawyers with offices in Holmfirth on the Principality solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a further sum for handling the Principality mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Principality?

As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Principality but by your Holmfirth conveyancer. Some firms on the Principality panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some practices incorporate it on their overall fee.

My offer was accepted on a house in Holmfirth on 17/12/2025, valuation was booked 2 days after, all came back fine. Conveyancer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Nationwide and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Nationwide to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my flat in Holmfirth. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Holmfirth.

Holmfirth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the lessees benefit from control and even though a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. The majority of Holmfirth leasehold properties will have a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the freeholder. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this charge, normally in instalments during the year. This can vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.

I am buying a property and require a conveyancing solicitor in Holmfirth who is on the lender conveyancing panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for the bank who do conveyancing in Holmfirth. We dont recommend any particular conveyancing practice.