Skipton Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

In the same way that there is a unique Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel most building societies, operate a conveyancing panel for solicitors and other conveyancers that the lender will instruct. Terms and Conditions and criteria for inclusion on a building society conveyancing panel vary from lender-to-lender. Having CQS accreditation may be a requirement. Institutional lenders, such as a building society, is a client and is entitled to instruct the solicitor or conveyancer of its choosing (who, in turn, is free to accept or refuse instructions). Therefore, if lender and borrower cannot agree which solicitor or conveyancer should represent them jointly, they would usually proceed on a separate representation basis. The BSA have not published the equivalent of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3s.

Please tread carefully here as what you are suggesting 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. Many lenders make it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender must appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancer. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

When a solicitor is acting for both Skipton Building Society and borrower there is potential for conflicts to arise. You owe duties to both clients. All information received by you from your client is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. In the situation you find yourself in if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender the solicitor must cease to act for the Skipton Building Society and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Skipton Building Society the reason for termination of the retainer over and above the fact that a conflict has arisen. The fact that you can no longer act should alert even the most somnambulistic of lenders that something is wrong with the borrower and/or purchase. The fact that you have disinstructed yourself should not affect your Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel status.

For most lenders participation on the lender's panel of conveyancers is at the absolute discretion of the the lender. Many lenders reserve the right to accept or reject any application without giving any reason. You should check your original application to join the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel to see if you are entitled to a reason.

CQS accreditation is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of firms. A number of mortgage companies now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel membership as is the case with Astra Mortgages.

You need to get in touch with Skipton Building Society to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains an individual inquiry for banks to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. Skipton Building Society in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to disclose the firm’s Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel reference.