Holmesdale Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

We are not aware of any intention on the part of the CML to develop such a search facility.

Many estate agents will be feeling the pain if their clients start out on the buying process having appointed a conveyancer who is not on the panel with the purchaser’s chosen lender. Many conveyancing firms are only discovering when they begin working on a case that they are no longer able to work with that lender. Given the inevitable resultant delays in the transaction the chances of an abortive deal increases dramatically. in the circumstances there is understandable anguish on the part of the estate agent as a result of the lost time should the client have to change solicitors .

We only know of two or three lenders that operate a separate conveyancing panel where the mortgage advance is over a certain level. You should nevertheless check directly with Holmesdale Building Society. At one stage HSBC would only allow Sole practitioners to act for them where the mortgage was below £150,000. We are not sure if HSBC still operate such a condition. In your case it is best to check with Holmesdale Building Society

In operating open conveyancing panels, lenders such as Holmesdale Building Society face a number of fraud and negligence risks. While there is no authoritative source of data on lender exposure to solicitor–led mortgage fraud, anecdotal evidence from lenders indicates exposure on individual cases are often in the millions of pounds. The National Fraud Authority estimates that £1bn per year is lost in mortgage -related frauds in total, which is seen as a conservative estimate.

These risks are exacerbated by the lack of a comprehensive set of data on all conveyancing firms (which, for the avoidance of doubt, would include solicitors and conveyancers across the UK) which is in a readily accessible format. Currently, lenders vet the suitability of their panel firms against a variety of disparate, incomplete and potentially inaccurate sets of information. One top 5 lender pointed out to us that it is almost impossible to track individual fraudsters who move from firm to firm, especially where they are no longer registered or no longer hold a valid practicing certificate.

Holmesdale Building Society and other lenders are in varying stages of reviewing their approach to vetting firms on their conveyancing panels, to ensure their ongoing exposure to unsuitable firms is reduced. There is also regulatory impetus on lenders to ensure that they have satisfactory oversight of their third party panels, including a due-diligence process.

In the circumstances please explain on the form what steps you have taken to find out the reasons behind cancellation of your Holmesdale Building Society panel membership. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before revocation of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender putting you on notice?

You need to contact Holmesdale Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an explicit question for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Holmesdale Building Society in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to disclose the firm’s Holmesdale Building Society solicitors panel reference.