HS Conveyancing

Martin Crenshaw was excellent in dealing with out house sale.

I have been attempting to purchase a flat since September 2025 and was referred to Holden Smith by the estate agent, Thornley Groves in Manchester. At the outset, Holden Smith appeared professional and competent. Although updates were infrequent, I was not overly concerned as the transaction seemed to be progressing. Once the mortgage offer was issued in October, everything appeared to be on track. On 26th January, I was advised to propose a completion date, which I did—6th February 2026. I then arranged everything necessary in preparation for moving into my new home. Then, on 30th January, I was informed that the lender had recorded a completely different firm of solicitors—one I had never heard of. To Halifax’s credit, they corrected the error and re issued the paperwork within 48 hours. However, the following week I was unable to obtain any updates from either my solicitor, Ahsan, or his assistant, Alexandru. Emails and calls went unanswered. On Monday 9th February, I finally received a response from Brittany, who advised that she would be taking over my transaction going forward. I also informed her at that point that I wished to make a formal complaint regarding how the matter had been handled over the previous weeks. I was advised that I should allow the transaction to proceed and that a complaint could be raised at a later stage, as submitting one now would only cause further delays. Brittany then identified additional enquiries and notified the lender of issues that should have been picked up much earlier in the process. We are now approaching April, and we are still awaiting a response from the sellers’ agents regarding the EWS1 form. I attempted to obtain an update, only to receive an out of office reply from Brittany stating she is not expected to return until mid April. I am once again left at a crossroads, trying to understand whether anyone is progressing my transaction in her absence. I have emailed Alexandru, but as usual, no response has been forthcoming. At this stage, I genuinely do not know whether this transaction will ever complete, or whether I will simply find another property and withdraw altogether. Regardless of the outcome, I will ensure that I make the public aware—via social media and formal channels—of the standard of service provided by Holden Smith. I also intend to raise this matter with the Law Society of England & Wales so that your practices are properly scrutinised and the general public are made aware of the level of customer service you provide.

Brittany Clark dealt with a property transfer for us and she was great - very responsive and really seemed to care about what she was doing

A bumpy start with a member of staff leaving midway through the process, however Martin really pulled out all the stops to get us over the line. Thank you!

Sukhmani is a complete star. She dealt with our sale in a professional, friendly and personalised way. She kept us constantly updated and answered our queries without any delays. The Reception Staff at the Horsforth branch are really wonderful and helpful. They made us feel like we were their only clients. If you want a hassle free sale, supported by the best in the business then your only option should be Holden Smith.

had an extremely disappointing experience with Katie Sanderson at Holden Smith. What should have been a relatively straightforward property sale turned into an 18-month ordeal. As a direct result of repeated delays, unnecessary requests, and poor communication, I estimate that this experience cost me approximately £45,000. This financial loss included: A forced reduction of the sale price by £20,000 Ongoing mortgage payments Council tax Service charges and other holding costs Additional management pack fees and related expenses During the first sale, an insurance claim that was unrelated to my property was raised as an issue. Even after the insurance company confirmed that they could not provide the information being requested, there appeared to be no practical workaround. The transaction stalled and the first buyer withdrew. When a second buyer was found, all documentation was already in place, including the management pack. Despite confirmation from the managing agent that nothing had changed, I was asked to purchase a new management pack at additional cost, causing further delay. Communication was extremely frustrating. Emails often went unanswered for days, and on several occasions I was told that documents were outstanding when they had already been supplied. The cumulative impact of these delays was severe. I was left carrying the property for many additional months and ultimately accepted a significantly lower sale price. In my opinion, the process demonstrated poor communication, a lack of urgency, and little appreciation for the financial consequences to the client. Based on my experience, I would not recommend Katie Sanderson or Holden Smith.

Many thanks to Lauren and Lucy for all their hard work in the conveyancing work on our house purchase. Also thanks to Alex and Alice for associated works. All absolutely perfect. We had a first class experience.

Absolute amazing company! I can't believe how quickly they done Everything always on hand to answer a question. When we heard horror stories about solicitors and time scales we were worried but not with Holden Smith. Daniel, Zain and especially Julie were just an amazing team and got us all done I'm super fast time. Nothing was ever a bother or a stupid question seriously highly would recommend them!!

Holden & Smith handled both our sale and purchase when moving house. The app they use to gather documents/information and track the case progress is really helpful, especially when you are purchasing as a couple and both need to upload docs. Lauren and Lucy were always quick to answer the phone and any questions whenever I had them, and were quick to forward info on by mail too. I would highly recommend them to friends and family. Thank you both for all of your help.

We recently used Holden Law Ltd for processing the legal work on our first home purchase, and unfortunately, we were quite disappointed. Throughout the process, we found them to be extremely slow in responding, even to straightforward questions. There were multiple weeks where we were left waiting for basic updates. As first-time buyers, we were really hoping for more guidance and a quicker pace, but we had to chase them for almost every detail. Interestingly, when we raised our concerns towards the end of the process, specifically requesting a reduction on their fees, we received the fastest reply we got all along—within just 15 minutes—but it was a complete rejection of our concerns, dismissing them entirely. We really hoped for a more supportive experience, so sadly, we can’t recommend them at this stage.