I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Yorkshire BS. Guiseley conveyancing practitioners are instructed. How long does it take for Yorkshire BS to forward the offer to the solicitor?

There is no definitive answer here. Have Yorkshire BS conducted the survey? Have you advised Yorkshire BS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.

I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Guiseley off the council. I have a mortgage offer with Yorkshire BS. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.

After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Guiseley. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Soon after, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Nationwide panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Guiseley?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Guiseley. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I'm purchasing a new build house in Guiseley with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The property agent suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about this side-deal as it will impact my mortgage with Barclays Direct. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one close by in Guiseley I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Guiseley for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.

How does one as executor remove a deceased person's details from the title register for a property in Guiseley?

If a Guiseley property is jointly owned and one of the proprietors passes away, the name will not immediately be removed from the Land Registry title. You are not required to amend the title as in the event of a sale your conveyancer would simply be required to evidence as to the reason the co owner is missing from the conveyance, such as the probate documents.

With a view to making the sale conveyancing smoother in the future you may arrange to have the deceased name removed from the title entries by applying to HM Land Registry with proof of the death. There is no fee from the Registry for this service.