Holden Smith Law Limited

One of the worst professional services experiences we have ever had. Our experience with this firm was absolutely appalling from start to finish. Buying a house is stressful enough without having to constantly chase the very people you are paying to handle the process, yet that is exactly what we experienced. For approximately the first month after instructing them, there appeared to be virtually no action taken on our house. We were then repeatedly left chasing for updates ourselves, often having to call every single week just to find out what was happening. Communication was consistently poor, and we were rarely kept informed unless we actively pursued them. There were two significant delays during the process, followed by yet another delay right at the end. What should have been a straightforward process became unnecessarily stressful and frustrating because of the lack of organisation, communication and urgency. The solicitor who was originally assigned to our case was particularly disappointing. Despite being the person we had been told was handling our matter, he ultimately didn’t even end up completing the transaction. The work was passed between other members of the team, leaving us wondering who was actually responsible for getting things done. Based on our experience, there was a complete lack of confidence that our matter was being properly managed. And unfortunately, even completing the house purchase did not bring the problems to an end. After completion, they had still forgotten to send us important paperwork. We should not have had to discover that ourselves or chase for documents after the transaction had already closed. What is perhaps most frustrating is the complete lack of accountability. Despite the delays, poor communication, mistakes and paperwork being forgotten, there was no meaningful attempt to rectify the issues and not even a proper apology. We were left feeling as though our concerns simply weren’t important. For a service that costs a significant amount of money, we expected professionalism, communication, competence and accountability. Instead, we had to repeatedly chase, deal with delays and pick up the pieces of mistakes that should never have happened in the first place. We would absolutely not use this firm again and cannot recommend them based on our experience. If you are looking for solicitors to make the process of buying a house less stressful, our experience was the complete opposite. Save yourself the frustration and look elsewhere.

The process began in May 19th and received notice of 'completion' on 29th July. While taking a little longer than expected were were reasonable happily and would have give a 3-4 star review. During this time Joe Furness from Holden Smith was not that forthcoming in his communication style and his phone manner was at time too 'relaxed'. We would have liked more efficient and regular updates and more energetic approach but I would have recommended Holden Smith especially considering their quote was on the lower end of the spectrum. That being said it appeared to be a very straight forward process of paying off a help-to-buy loan with cash savings. After 'completion' we would have assumed : 'no more to do'. However we were selling our house shortly after and that solicitor informed us there was no note on the Land Registry documents. We were starting to think the worst that we'd been scammed or something. We contacted Joe who said 'it was completed' just waiting on land registry and claimed that not his fault is the fault of land registry. Joe took over 2 weeks to reply to emails after which we called him and eventually got an answer in which he claimed it was down to HelptoBuy . After calling Help to Buy we found out Joe did not complete the 'DS1' form properly and seemed like pretty easy information to find out. This took a few days to sort and was eventually sorted , with Joe being more forthcoming (probably because we were so annoyed) . We would have not known about this error/oversight if it weren't for the other solicitor noting this. After all of this we eventually 'actually completed', having our account closed with Help to buy almost a month later. This could have been avoided had Joe not acted as previously mentioned. Because of this I will not be recommending Holden Smith and would not use them again. I sent them this email during the time and they never replied

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Joe Furness

We instructed Holden Smith (via SAM Conveyancing) for our property purchase and experienced a complete failure in basic service standards. As first-time buyers, we expected clear guidance, but were instead met with weeks of unanswered emails, vague updates, and a complete lack of urgency. Communication was so poor that the seller’s solicitor and estate agent had to contact us directly to get updates because our conveyancer was completely unresponsive. Updates routinely consisted of unannotated forwarded email chains without context, and crucial documents—like a Deed of Surrender—sat untouched for weeks, even while our handler went on leave with no active cover. We have been forced to submit a formal complaint and escalate to senior management just to get basic progress on our file. Avoid if you value transparency, efficiency, or responsive legal support.

Absolutely the worst people I have dealt with. If you are looking for honesty and a trustworthy team to get you through the house-buying process, then please avoid these. I had the worst experience ever, and the Branch Manager in Elland is an horrendous person to deal with, who was mainly anonymous and when he was present, either ignored or misled things. I can honestly say that the whole company just want the money. I have made complaints, and nobody even responds to these. Awful Awful Awful!!!!! If you want to feel at ease during the purchase of your property, these are not the people to use.

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Daniel Cox

Martin Crenshaw was excellent in dealing with out house sale.

Excellent service received from Francesca Graham and Tiarny Leah with the sale and purchase of my properties. The platform was way to use and I was kept informed at every step of the way. Tel calls and emails were replied to promptly and courteously and a stressful process was made much easier with their care and attention to detail. Pricing was competitive but the service really stood out and I would definitely recommend these 2 ladies, thank you.

I would not recommend this firm. They have caused so much stress it is unbelievable . There was a huge lack of communication, including failing to return emails or calls frequently, leaving us feeling constantly worried and stressed. A house sale with no chain took us over 7 months to complete. There were some things that were outside their control but they knew the situation from the outset and could have started to sort the issue out in week 1 if they had been on the ball. After 1 month we wondered why we hadn’t heard from them. So we phoned. We were told that one of our group had forgotten to sign something. Why did Holden Smith not tell us this? Why wait in silence until the client realises something must be wrong? After 6 months they managed to get 3 out of our 4 addresses wrong - and not just minor mistakes, they had us living in totally different cities and towns to where we actually live! And then, apparently unable to look at their own files to find our addresses, I was asked to send them an email detailing all the correct ones. After about 5 months, in desperation, we reached out to someone else in the firm who was initially helpful but then sent an email with no regards or anything helpful - just basically said it was nothing to do with him. I could write a book about our negative experiences with Holden Smith. It’s been an extremely stressful time and my wholehearted advice would be to avoid at all costs.

We had a fantastic experience with Holden Smith throughout the process of buying our first home. As first-time buyers, there were lots of things we were unsure about, but the team made the whole process much easier and less stressful. A special thank you to Tilly and Lucy for their help, support and professionalism throughout the process. They were a pleasure to deal with, kept everything moving forward and helped us get the keys to our first home.

Tilly & Lucy handled the sale of my property and despite the sellers constant and contradicting questions they handled everything immediately and in a exceptional and speedy manner. A special mention for the lady on Reception Jane who was extremely helpful too! Would definitely recommend Holden Smith :)

I’m so grateful to the team (Lauren B and Michala) for helping me through buying my first home. There was a lot I wasn’t familiar with, but they were always there to answer my questions, explain things clearly and put my mind at ease. They made the whole process feel much less daunting, and I really appreciated how supportive they were from start to finish. Thank you for helping make such a special milestone a positive experience.