New Street Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

The Scottish Law Society has advised that solicitors should check their panel status with lenders prior to accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the New Street Mortgages conveyancing panel. The recommendation arises from the practice of a number of mortgage lenders who remove solicitors from their panels without prior notice as part of their panel management system, which can lead to some solicitors discovering this only once instructed. This is sensible advice as a client finding out midway through a transaction that their lawyer is not on the approved lender panel is very frustrating and can lead to complaints. Many online consumer forums contain posts where someone is complaining about finding that their lawyer is not on a lender conveyancing panel. Such forums include moneysavingexpert.com

Most lenders do not operate a specific buy to let conveyancing panel but we are hearing about a few that do. We do not know what the position is with New Street Mortgages as at todays date. If you're about to receive instructions from a client on a buy to let purchase with a mortgage from New Street Mortgages we suggest that you call New Street Mortgages to check the position.

New Street Mortgages approved panel lawyers have to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook instructions relating to Transfer of Equity. These are set out in Section 16.3. First, your firm must approve the form of Transfer of Equity (which should be in the Land Registry's standard form) and, if New Street Mortgages require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check New Street Mortgages CML Part 2 conditions to see if New Street Mortgages have standard forms of transfer and deed of covenant. Please note that this requirement can change from one transaction to another so do check! Second,When drafting or approving a transfer, you should bear in mind that: although the transfer should state that it is subject to the mortgage (identified by date and parties), it need give no details of the terms of the mortgage; the transfer need not state the amount of the mortgage debt. If it does, the figure should include both principal and interest at the date of completion, which you must check ; there should be no statement that all interest has been paid to date. Further obligations are set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook which have to be followed by all firms on the New Street Mortgages conveyancing panel

In the circumstances please clarify on the application what steps you have taken to find out the reasons behind cancellation of your New Street Mortgages panel status. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before termination 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 contact New Street Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an explicit inquiry for lenders to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. New Street Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote the firm’s New Street Mortgages conveyancing panel number.