Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
Astra Mortgages Solicitor Panel Assistance:
What are the Astra Mortgages 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:
To be a member of our conveyancing panel you must be CQS accredited, must have submitted an application form, be registered on www.lawsociety.org, produced your current Practising Certificate together with evidence of professional indemnity insurance cover for a minimum of £2m (£3m if the firm is a Limited Liability Partnership or a company). Any panel application is subject to individual assessment and approval.
You must also comply with the terms and conditions of your Astra Mortgages solicitor panel appointment.
Are Astra Mortgages Conveyancing panel solicitors at risk of the society altering or retracting the loan offer?
Astra Mortgages addresses this at section B.3 of their BSA Mortgage Instructions which states:
Those circumstances identified in Offer Condition 43 (a) as set out in the booklet “Offer Conditions 2015 and Mortgage Conditions 2015” to which the mortgage offer is subject.
NB Please note that our offer is valid for 180 days, unless otherwise stated on the offer. We may amend or withdraw an offer before the end of its validation period if an offer extension is requested.
You must report any incentives. In addition if the property is yet to be occupied for the first time, or for the first time in its current form we require you to send in a copy of the Disclosure of Incentives Form before submitting the Certificate of Title. You should send us this Form even if it does not disclose any incentives.
Please contact: Customer Lending Department, DX29181, Lynch Wood. Telephone: 01733 372420.
Do Astra Mortgages or the BSA run CPD Courses for the Astra Mortgages approved conveyancing panel in much the same way that the Law Society run cases for CQS accedited practices?
This not something that the BSA would traditionally get involved with but they do arrange a number of useful legal related conferences which are attended by firms on the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel. Lexsure intend to run specific lender focused seminars in the near future including a webinar on Astra Mortgages’s obligations . Solicitors on the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel will be invited . Further details will be communicated as part of the LENDERmonitor change Notifications .
Are the Council of Licensed Conveyancers taking any action to ensure that licensed conveyancers remain on lender conveyancing panels?
As is the case with the Law Society the CLC has initiated discussions with banks and their representative bodies to see whether and how the risks that lenders wish to mitigate could be addressed through the regulatory framework rather than ad hoc arrangements that can differ from lender to lender. We expect that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Astra Mortgages as well as the CML
What type of firms do building societies accept on their approved solicitor panel?
In the same way that there is a unique Astra Mortgages 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.
My firm is not on the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel as well other lenders . My clients, who have applied for a mortgage with Astra Mortgages wish use my firms conveyancing services regardless of the fact that we are not on the Astra Mortgages panel. Am I doing anything wrong is suggesting to my client that they use a firm down the road to represent Astra Mortgages on mortgage aspect of the conveyancing?
Please tread carefully here as what you are proposing 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.
I rarely receive a copy of a valuation from a lender these days. Does the extent of my Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel obligations extend to checking the valuation details where I am acting on a purchase with Astra Mortgages as the Mortgagee?
You have a number of obligations in this regard which you need to follow if you wish to comply with your lender client’s instructions as set out in the BSA Mortgage Instructions. (I) You must take reasonable steps to verify that there are no discrepancies between the description of the property as compared to an out of date postal address or DX details.
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 Astra Mortgages Conveyancing Panel
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Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Astra Mortgages
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 Astra Mortgages Firms
- Draft Report on Title precedent for Astra Mortgages borrowers
- Draft Anti Money Laundering PolicyTemplate for Astra Mortgages panel firms to consider
- Dealing with Lender Policy Template panel for CQS accredited firms on the Astra Mortgages lender panel
- Buy-to-Let help for Astra Mortgages
- Consent-to-Let help for Astra Mortgages
- Contractor Mortgages with Astra Mortgages
