Buying a property is one of the most financially demanding ventures a person can undertake. A huge part of buying a property is arranging a suitable mortgage from a mortgage lender, such as a bank. Before choosing a conveyancing solicitor for your home purchase, you must check whether the solicitor is an approved member of your mortgage lender’s panel. Not doing this could cause serious delays in your move.
You can read more about the particular lender you are interested in and the scope of our work with them here: Mortgage Lender Panels
What is a lender panel?
When a borrower obtains a mortgage to purchase or remortgage a property, the mortgage lender will usually require that the legal work involved in the transaction be performed by a conveyancing firm that is one their approved list of conveyancers. Essentially, a lenders panel is a list of solicitors a mortgage lender is happy to work with.
This list contains firms that are trusted and have reputable and reliable reputation. Ensuring that your solicitor is on this list is crucial when buying a property.
Why do lenders need their own solicitors?
Lenders require their own solicitors to ensure that the property and title is properly investigated and that their security over the property is adequately protected. Having solicitors also means that the risk of fraud occurring diminishes. It is for this reason that a mortgage is often released to the solicitors rather than directly to the borrowers.
Understanding Lender Policies
When it comes to complying with rules and regulations, it is important to have a solicitor that understands and complies with lender requirements. This is particularly key in situations when like Flying Freehold, Short Lease Mortgages and Lender Ground Rent.
We ensure that we abide by all the rules and policies of all the lenders we are a part of, as well as following the UK Finance Handbook.
What do solicitors help lenders with?
Solicitors often have lots of different duties when it comes to helping lenders. Things they help with include:
- Reporting any change of circumstances to lenders
- Change in buyer’s income during the purchase
- Divulging information that the buyer are borrowing from family or friends
- Reporting any property price drops
Here at Starck Uberoi, we adhere to the comprehensive instructions set out in the UK Finance Handbook for conveyancers acting on behalf of lenders in residential conveyancing transactions.
Instant Conveyancing Quote
At Starck Uberoi we are committed to providing you with efficient and clear legal advice. We understand that finding a reliable conveyancer can be a time consuming and difficult task; to make it easier for you, we provide a free, online conveyancing quote calculator to save you time on your search.
Why do lenders have conveyancing panels? Why do lenders panels exist?
Lenders operate conveyancing panels in order to reduce the risk of fraud, but also to ensure high standards for conveyancing transactions involving their bank, building society or lender.
By imposing strict guidelines and requirements to firms that they work with, you can feel safer knowing that a firm has achieved a certain standard to work with your lender.
How to tell if my solicitor is on the lenders panel?
Mortgage lenders often have a select panel of solicitors who they will agree to work with. It is therefore important for you to check your specific lender’s panel to confirm if your current solicitor is listed. Not all solicitors or conveyancers can work with every mortgage lender.
It is important to speak to your lender, mortgage broker or anyone else who has access to the list of panels to determine whether or not a firm is on your lenders panel.
Our Conveyancing firm is fully accredited under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS). We are on the lender panels of trusted conveyancers for the majority of high-street lenders including Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest, and Santander; plus, we hold indemnity insurance of £3 million.
It is important to note that this is not an exhaustive list as we are also registered on the panel of some of the smaller lenders; please call us on 020 8840 6640 or email solicitor@starckuberoi.co.uk to check if we are on the lender panel for these smaller lenders.
Mortgage Lender Panels
Our quality of service is reflected in our admission onto the residential conveyancing panel of almost all major mortgage lenders, including specialist Bridging Loan Lenders. We are a six-partner practice registered with the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), and we hold professional indemnity insurance cover of £3 million. You can read more about the particular lender you are interested in and the scope of our work with them here: Mortgage Lender Panels
Want an Instant Online Conveyancing quote?
By using our Online Conveyancing Calculator, you will receive an instant solicitors fee for arranging your conveyancing with our specialist conveyancing firm who have been approved by the lender. Simply enter a few details into the Online Conveyancing Quote to automatically generate a Conveyancing Quote for your property purchase, sale, or re-mortgage. Whether you are taking out a mortgage on a house or flat, or you are looking to re-mortgage your current property, Starck Uberoi’s Property Solicitors can work with your lender to ensure all the legal aspects of your mortgage are dealt with effectively.
Mortgage Lender Panels
Trusted Residential Conveyancing
“We are a five-partner practice, with five SRA-approved managers, accredited under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS). We maintain professional indemnity insurance cover of £4 million and are members of the residential conveyancing panels of all major mortgage lenders and specialist bridging finance providers.”
FAQs
This can vary from firm to firm. The best way to check this would be by using our free, instant, fixed quote calculator:
In order to purchase a property, you must either use a solicitor or a conveyancer to legally transfer the ownership to you. You will also need a solicitor to provide legal advice on your mortgage
The first thing you should figure out is whether the solicitor is on your mortgage lender’s panel. You cannot use a non-approved solicitor or conveyancer.
This can vary depending on what stage you current are at in your conveyancing process.
If the conveyancing process is underway and the solicitor subsequently finds out that they cannot act for your lender, the lender will need a different solicitor to represent them.
Your solicitor will then have to arrange for another law form to carry out the legal enquiries on behalf of the lender. This means creating a whole new, separate file on your behalf that would need to be sent to the second solicitor.
Alternatively, you can opt to go with a solicitor recommended by the lender themselves.
In this case, if your conveyancing process is in the early stages, the first thing you should do is to contact your solicitor and make sure that they know which lender they are using. You should confirm with the solicitor that they can indeed act for your lender.
If they cannot act for your lender, you should ask the solicitor to confirm what their process will be to switch firms. The solicitor should be ready to send the necessary information over to an alternative firm as soon as the mortgage offer is received. The solicitor should also give you their undertaking that there will be no delays as a consequence of using a second firm.
