Astra Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

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:

You must also comply with the terms and conditions of your Astra Mortgages solicitor panel appointment.

This not something that the BSA would traditionally get involved with however they do organise numerous useful legal related conferences which are attended by firms on the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel. We do intend to run specific lender focused seminars in the coming months including a webinar on Astra Mortgages’s obligations . Solicitors on the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel will be invited . Information about the webinar will be communicated as part of the LENDERmonitor change Notifications .

The BSA Mortgage Instructions relevant to a solicitor on the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel indicates that when a further advance is required for alterations or improvements to the property we will not normally instruct a member of the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel but if you are instructed the appropriate provisions of the BSA mortgage instruction must be adhered to .

The requirements to join the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.

Astra Mortgages 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 Astra Mortgages are concerned if they are ‘appropriate’. Most lenders will not require environmental searches (you should Check the Astra Mortgages 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.

Each lender has different criteria. We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

• List of all Licensed Conveyancers within firm
• Full disciplinary history for each licensed conveyancer
• Areas of Law covered by the firm
• Full career history for each solicitor including admission date to the relevant Law Society
• Whether the firm is able to operate in other jurisdictions
• Charge registration history
• Whether the firm has ever applied for accreditation and the outcome of the application
• Number of lender conveyancing panels the firm is currently on
• PII Cover details, including, if relevant, whether the firm is or has been in the assigned risks pool and structure of cover – top-up split and history of any refusals
• List of all those who can sign off the Certificate Of Title

The answer to this question really depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Astra Mortgages conveyancing panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows:

1. lack of transactions
2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction.

In these three circumstances it is unlikely that you would expected to take any action. Disclosure and other compliance considerations are more likely to be relevant if the reason for removal is due to breaches of lender requirements or allegations of fraud or negligence. Whether the reasoning should trigger a disclosable 'material' breach will depend on the firm and the circumstances around possible failures to comply with the SRA Authorisation Rules, and the SRA will judge each case on its own merits. Factors such as the detriment or risk of detriment to clients, the scale of the issue and overall impact on the firm will need to be considered in deciding whether a failure is 'material'. As the COLP you will need systems to identify patterns of breaches. Even if you don't consider there to be regulatory implications, the firms COFA needs to consider whether he or she needs to take any action as result of being removed from the conveyancing panel of Astra Mortgages.

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:

• Santander Conveyancing Panel
• National Westminster Bank Conveyancing Panel
• Royal Bank of Scotland Conveyancing Panel
• HSBC Conveyancing Panel
• Lloyds Conveyancing Panel