We are buying a apartment in Ilkley. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to send money 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.

We previously instructed conveyancing lawyers locally in Ilkley on the TSB solicitor approved list. They have just billed me an additional sum for dealing with the TSB mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by TSB?

Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your lawyer can charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by TSB but by your Ilkley property lawyer. Some firms on the TSB panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some practices include it on their overall fee.

My offer was accepted on an apartment in Ilkley on 19/12/2025, valuation was booked 4 days later, all came back fine. Conveyancer instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Leeds Building Society and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Are Leeds Building Society entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Leeds Building Society to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

It has been 2 months following my purchase conveyancing in Ilkley completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Ilkley. I've chance upon a site which seems to have the perfect offering If it is possible to get all this stuff done via email that would be preferable. Do I need to be concerned? 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 tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Ilkley. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Ilkley ?

Most houses in Ilkley are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Ilkley in which case you should be shopping around for a Ilkley conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.

Ilkley Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

If a Ilkley lease has less than eighty years it will affect the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Ilkleylease extensions you will need to own the premises for two years in order to be eligible to exercise a lease extension. Is the freehold owned collectively by the leaseholders? On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Ilkley require leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for major works.

I have chosen a Ilkley conveyancing solicitor for our home move (FTB’s) and have spotted in the terms and conditions that they are not covered by the Financial Conduct Authority. Should I be concerned or is that usually the case with conveyancer?

We can't see why they should be. Most conveyancing practitioner don't lend money. You should check that they are regulated by the SRA, who have strict laws regulating monies held on client account.