New solicitor - missing/lost documents

[Jam82]

Hi,

 

Your help and advice would be much appreciated!

 

I'll summarise my long and weary issue:

 

• After buying a new build property I was informed by my conveyancer that the developer had overlooked transferring a piece of land over to me during the completion process  
• My property was bought with assistance from Help To Buy
• A Deed of Variation was needed in order to add the piece of land onto my title
• The developer agreed to pay all fees associated with this variation
• I emailed my conveyancer in August for an update.  They confirmed the deed had been issued and they were waiting on funds from the developer in order to register it with the Land Registry.  Funds from the developer were subsequently sent a couple of weeks later and I have a copy of the invoice sent to the developer by the conveyancer 
• I emailed the conveyancer in October only for the email to bounce back. Unbeknown to me, the conveyancer had been shut down by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers in October for breaching their Code of Conduct.  All cases were transferred to another solicitor to handle
• The new solicitor is not able to find my file despite the CLC saying it appears on their file register.  The file would have the deed etc contained within it

 

In essence, the original solicitor was in receipt of funds from the developer to register the deed with the Land Registry but failed to do so before they were closed down.  The deed has since been lost by the CLC/new solicitor however a copy can be obtained free of charge but a solicitor will need to do this for me and then register it with the Land Registry.   A solicitor in town estimates this will cost in the region of £170 including their fees.

 

Essentially all I need is for the deed to be registered but what is the best way to get this resolved bearing in mind the old conveyancer is in receipt of funds to do this but didn't?  The solicitor who should be in possession of my file may potentially be in breach of the code of conduct for not safeguarding assets entrusted to them i.e. my file.

 

Thanks in advance,

J