Why can’t my solicitor hold the money?

In December 2014, the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) issued a warning that effectively barred solicitors from holding money in client accounts unless they were also providing legal advice in an underlying matter.

If your solicitor is advising you in this way, then they can hold security for expenses in the traditional manner. It is unusual, however, for solicitors to be involved in party wall matters unless things have gone badly wrong or the project is particularly complicated.