Teachers Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

The information on this page is designed to keep solicitors and licensed conveyancers abreast of latest requirements changes by Teachers Building Society and to assist in remaining on the Teachers Building Society Conveyancing Panel.

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Teachers Building Society Solicitor Panel Assistance:

What are the Teachers 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:

We do not operate a conveyancing panel

You must also comply with the terms and conditions of your Teachers Building Society solicitor panel appointment.

Are Teachers Building Society Conveyancing panel lawyers exposed to the possibility of the society amending or withdrawing the mortgage offer?

Teachers Building Society addresses this at section B.3 of their BSA Mortgage Instructions which states:

Any such arrangement may lead to the mortgage offer being withdrawn or amended if it could reduce the value of our security or is inconsistent with the basis on which the mortgage offer was made.

I am on the Teachers Building Society conveyancing panel. Can I get an archived copy of Teachers Building Society Specific Requirements from the BSA?

The BSA, as is the case with the CML do not hold data sets of Specific Requirements. We would recommend you make a request of Teachers Building Society directly.

What obligations do I have, being on the Teachers Building Society conveyancing panel, to carry out a Chancel Search?

Teachers Building Society make no specific obligation to carry out any of the searches listed. The BSA Mortgage Instructions simply states that ‘you must ensure that any other searches which may be appropriate to the particular property, taking into account its locality and other features are carried out’.

Remember that most ‘less usual searches’ (as described in the Law Society’s Conveyancing Handbook) are not optional as far as Teachers Building Society are concerned if they are ‘appropriate’. Most lenders will not require environmental searches (you should Check the Teachers Building Society Specific Requirements of BSA Handbook to be sure), but you are obliged to explain risks and availability to the client.

Ground stability, Plansearch,flood searches as well as the searches listed in the question are optional – but only to the extent that you have allowed the borrower client to make an informed choice. Regardless of whether there is a mortgage, If you have not advised the client that these (and other) searches are available and what risks they cover, then you will be liable if the client suffers loss through not conducting one.

Given my firm’s membership on the Teachers Building Society conveyancing panel how long am I expected to archive the original 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 Teachers Building Society conveyancing panel you must allow Teachers Building Society to conduct such reasonable audit of your information security measures as Teachers Building Society or their agents may to ensure your compliance with your file retention obligations.

A recent SRA survey reveals that three quarters of solicitors have been removed or threatened with removal from a lender conveyancing panel. Teachers Building Society and other building societies have restricted their panel over the years. Why?

The feeling from lenders generally (we can not speak for Teachers Building Society specifically), is that for too long solicitors have concentrated on their duty of care to their purchasing client, and have paid scant attention to the duty they owe to the lender, whom they conveniently forget is also their client.

Looking from the lenders’ perspective, it has to be said that there are pressures to encourage smaller panels. The Financial Services Authority regards the open panel system as a major contributor to mortgage fraud and negligence cases, and has been leaning on lenders to move to proactive panel management, which is more expensive the larger the panel. Hence it is becoming more common for lenders to charge fees, and/or require extensive form-filling, from would-be panel members

Teachers Building Society and other BSA 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.

Why did the BSA introduced its own instructions?

The Building Society Association introduced it’s Mortgage Instructions in 2010 to ensure that licensed conveyancers or solicitors on a building society conveyancing panel had full access to a complete set of standardised mortgage instructions.

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 Teachers Building Society Conveyancing Panel

Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Teachers 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

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