Me and my partner are purchasing a apartment in West Yorkshire. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to put our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

My wife and I are in the throws of viewing apartments in West Yorkshire and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it advisable to have a conveyancing practitioner on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a home loan with Yorkshire BS.

It would be wise to instigate your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the EA. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.

After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in West Yorkshire. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society 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.

I am buying my first flat in West Yorkshire with a loan from Bank of Ireland. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about this extras as it will affect my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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 need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for remortgage conveyancing in West Yorkshire. I've stumble upon a site which appears to be the perfect solution If it is possible to get all formalities completed via web that would be preferable. Do I need to be wary? What should out be looking out for?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in West Yorkshire. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in West Yorkshire are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in West Yorkshire so you should seriously consider shopping around for a West Yorkshire conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will appraise you on the various issues.

I am the registered owner of a ground floor flat in West Yorkshire, conveyancing was carried out May 2005. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in West Yorkshire with an extended lease are worth £186,000. The ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease finishes on 21st October 2076

You have 52 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £29,500 and £34,000 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

My conveyancers in West Yorkshire have advised me that no longer have my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with the mortgage company. Is it case that being on the lender conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a number of years?

Different lenders have different requirements but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the lender Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting the mortgage company directly.