Holmesdale Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

The requirements to join the Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.

Although not necessarily published, lenders have varying criteria . We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

Whether the firm has ever knowingly accepted instructions on transactions involving Sale and Rent Back, Back to Back, Exchange and Delayed Completion and Lease Option, Below Market Value.

List of all those staff who work within the conveyancing team

Summary of annual accounts

Full disciplinary history for each licensed conveyancer

PII Cover details, including, if relevant, whether the firm is or has been in the assigned risks pool and structure of cover – basic

Full career history for each licensed conveyancer including registration date with Council of Licensed Conveyancers

List of all Licensed Conveyancers within firm

Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group

SRA or equivalent regulator registration number where applicable

Full disciplinary history for each conveyancing solicitor

You have a number of obligations in this regard which are to followed if you wish to comply with your lender client’s instructions as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. First, You must take reasonable steps to verify that there are no discrepancies between the description of the property as valued and the title and other documents which a reasonably competent conveyancer should obtain, and, if there are, you must tell Holmesdale Building Society immediately. Second, You should take reasonable steps to verify that the assumptions stated by the valuer about the title (for example, its tenure, easements, boundaries and restrictions on its use) in the valuation and as stated in Holmesdale Building Society’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Holmesdale Building Society know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Holmesdale Building Society to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Holmesdale Building Society are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. (III) Holmesdale Building Society recommend that you should advise the borrower that there may be defects in the property which are not revealed by the inspection carried out by their valuer and there may be omissions or inaccuracies in the report which do not matter to them as a lender but which would matter to the borrower. Holmesdale Building Society recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Holmesdale Building Society have obtained, you should also advise the borrower that the borrower should not rely on the report in deciding whether to proceed with the purchase and that he obtains his own more detailed report on the condition and value of the property, based on a fuller inspection such as a homebuyers survey or structural survey. If you do not receive a copy of the valuation you can always ask for a copy of one from Holmesdale Building Society or the borrower. You still need to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Requirement relating to valuation reports even if you don't receive one directly. Failure to comply not only runs the risk of facing a claim by the lender but also being removed from the Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel

In this situation please clarify on the form what steps you have taken to discover 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 advising you as to their reasons?

You would be advised to communicate with Holmesdale Building Society to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook incorporates an explicit section for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Holmesdale Building Society in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose the firm’s Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel reference.