Where a lender’s requirements actually live
A conveyancer acting on a mortgage is following a published set of instructions. Knowing which half of it holds the answer saves most of the time usually spent looking for one.
Two parts, two different things
Part 1 is the general instruction and applies across the industry: what has to be investigated, what has to be reported, and what a certificate of title commits the firm to. It changes rarely, and when it changes it is published.
Part 2 is where each lender sets its own position. What it accepts on indemnity policies, on new-build warranties, on occupiers, on retentions, on solar panel leases and on much else. It is amended by the lender without notice, and different lenders answer the same question differently.
Why this site does not reproduce Part 2
Because it would be wrong within weeks and nothing would say so. A stale copy of a lender requirement, on a page a fee-earner acts on mid-transaction, is more dangerous than no copy: an acknowledged gap gets checked, and a confident answer does not.
What this site does instead is say which Part 2 question holds the answer, so the lookup is short. The current version is the only version worth relying on.
Keeping up with changes
Part 2 changes are the ones that catch firms out, because they are silent by design. Tracking them across a panel of lenders by hand is not realistic, which is the gap Lexsure’s change-notification service exists to fill.
Written as general information for England and Wales, not as advice on an individual matter. Where a lender’s own requirement applies, it sits in Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook, which lenders amend without notice.