Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
Newcastle Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information:
What are the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel arrangements?
Unlike the CML the Building Society Mortgage Instructions deal with this. Section A.12 states ‘In order to act on our behalf your firm or company must be a member of our conveyancing panel provided we are a society that operates one – see specific requirements for details of our arrangements.
The Special Requirements state:
The Society outsources management of its conveyancing panel to Legal Marketing Services Limited (“LMS”).
Firms may apply for inclusion to the Society’s conveyancing panel by visiting www.lms.com/lenderpanels
You must also comply with the terms and conditions of your Newcastle Building Society solicitor panel appointment.
As a lawyer on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel who do I communicate with should we have a question conerning the instructions ?
If you are a conveyancer and have a question relating to the mortgage instructions,
you should make contact with Newcastle Building Society. The BSA will not advise or comment on specific queries relating to Newcastle Building Society or other lenders.
Given my firm’s membership on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel how long am I obliged to retain the complete conveyancing file?
The BSA Mortgage Instructions state that the firm must keep the file for at least 6 years from the date of the mortgage. Data imaging is normally suitable
compliance with this requirement. As a firm on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel you must allow Newcastle Building Society to conduct such reasonable audit of your
information security measures as Newcastle Building Society or their
agents may to ensure your compliance with your file retention
obligations.
What sort of information are Lenders such as Newcastle Building Society are asking for when it comes to applying to be on their approved solicitor list?
Criteria differ from lender to lender.
We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):
- Full disciplinary history for each conveyancing solicitor
- Whether the firm is able to operate in other jurisdictions
- The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing broken down into sale
- SRA or equivalent regulator registration number where applicable
- Conveyancer client account(s) details
- Full complaints history for each licensed conveyancer
- Full disciplinary history for each licensed conveyancer
- Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group
- Firm name, address and contact details including all branches (including evidence of existence through risk-based physical visits and Google Streetview checks)
- Full complaints history for each conveyancing solicitor
Are there conditions, outside the BSA Mortgage Instructions, that a
firm should be aware of when on the Newcastle Building Society
conveyancing panel?
In order to be on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors have to complete an application form and agree Terms and Conditions. A sample of 5 conditions that we see amongst many lenders Terms (but not necessarily Newcastle Building Society) are as follows:
- To forward the title deeds and documents to another solicitor within 24 hours of an instruction from us requiring you to do so. On forwarding the deeds as instructed you will confirm to us that you have done so. Upon receipt of your confirmation, we will release you from all undertakings relating to your holding the title deeds.
- To carry out our instructions with reasonable care and skill, ensuring that all employees carrying out mortgage work on our behalf are qualified and competent to do so
- If you are a sole practitioner, to arrange for appropriate locum cover from our panel where necessary. Your locum must be a member of the Conveyancing panel.
- To be responsible for the reconstitution of the title deeds (whether the title is registered or unregistered, at your own cost), where any deeds in your possession, or were last known to be in your possession, go missing.
- That any deeds you borrow from us in connection with the personal mortgage of a partner or director at your firm must be requested by a partner or director other than the partner or director concerned and the transaction must be handled by that other partner or director. If you are a sole practitioner and require the loan of deeds in connection with your own mortgage, you must nominate a different firm on our panel to request the deeds and handle the transaction.
My practice have never been on the Newcastle Building Society approved panel as well other lenders . My clients, who have applied for a mortgage with Newcastle Building Society would still like to instruct me regardless of the fact that we are not on the Newcastle Building Society panel. Am I doing anything wrong is suggesting to my client that they use a local to represent Newcastle Building Society on mortgage aspect of the conveyancing?
Please tread carefully here as what you are intending may not be acceptable to the lender.
It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not entitled instruct a panel firm of your choice. An increasing amount of lenders are making it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender will appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancing firm.
You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains conveyancing instructions for a property with a solar panel. Newcastle Building Society do not set out obligations via the BSA Mortgage Instructions. Am I missing something?
The BSA Mortgage Instructions don't
specifically deal with Solar Panels but it would be prudent as
approved solicitors for Newcastle Building Society to raise the issue
with them (as you would if the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook applied). In any event you
need to raise the appropriate questions for your buyer client.
What lender panels do you receive the most questions about?
BSA lenders do not come within the top 20 lenders in terms of
frequency of questions. The most popular lender panels in terms of
questions are as follows:
Find a Lawyer on the Newcastle Building Society Solicitors Panel
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Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Newcastle Building Society
This information relates to purchase only and not remortgages.
| Year | Days* |
|---|---|
| 2026 | [no data] |
| 2025 | [no data] |
| 2024 | [no data] |
| 2023 | [no data] |
| 2022 | [no data] |
| 2021 | [no data] |
* Data aggregated from sources including COMPLETIONmonitor
Other related topics:
- CQS policy templates and procedures for accredited Newcastle Building Society Firms
- Draft Report on Title precedent for Newcastle Building Society borrowers
- Draft Anti Money Laundering PolicyTemplate for Newcastle Building Society panel firms to consider
- Dealing with Lender Policy Template panel for CQS accredited firms on the Newcastle Building Society lender panel
- Buy-to-Let help for Newcastle Building Society
- Consent-to-Let help for Newcastle Building Society
- Contractor Mortgages with Newcastle Building Society
