Cambridge Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

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

Cambridge Building Society Conveyancing Panel Assistance:

What are the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel criteria?
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:

The minimum criteria for appointment to our panel are:

  • At least two qualified partners who hold current Law Society practising certificates
  • The practice must be listed in the Law Society or Council for Licensed Conveyancers directories
  • The firm must have a minimum of £2 million professional indemnity cover

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

Is it the case that the Law Society has advised that firms check their status on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel?
The Law Society of Scotland has advised that solicitors should check their lender panel status prior to accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel. The suggestion arises from the practice of a number of mortgage lenders who remove solicitors from their panels without prior notice as part of their panel management system, which can lead to some solicitors discovering this only once instructed. This is sensible advice as a client finding out midway through a transaction that their lawyer is not on the approved lender panel is very frustrating and can lead to complaints. Many online consumer forums contain posts where someone is complaining about finding that their lawyer is not on a lender conveyancing panel. Such forums include mumsnet.com
I am hearing that agents are using online checkers to see if a firm is on a lender panel. Why?
The fact of the matter is that estate agents are suffering if their clients start out on the buying process using a solicitor who is not on the panel with the purchaser’s chosen lender. Many conveyancing firms are only discovering when they begin working on a case that they are no longer able to work with that lender. Given the inevitable resultant delays in the transaction the chances of an abortive deal increases dramatically. in the circumstances there is understandable anguish on the part of the estate agent as a result of the lost time should the client have to change solicitors lawyers.
Given my firm’s membership on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel how long am I expected to keep hold of 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 Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel you must allow Cambridge Building Society to conduct such reasonable audit of your information security measures as Cambridge Building Society or their agents may to ensure your compliance with your file retention obligations.
What reports are available via COMPLETIONmonitor to assist my appeal to be reinstated on the Cambridge Building Society solicitor panel?
There are many reports available but examples include:
  • Average time frame to register charges at the Land Registry
  • Average time frame to send deeds to the lender (calculated from completion date or title registration)
  • Number of conveyancing cases by lender
  • The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (purchase and remortgage)
  • Average mortgage advance
  • Buy to Let transactions
  • Disclosure to Lender analysis indicating frequency and nature of disclosures - to include benchmarking analysis against aggregate data
  • Evidence of undertaking logs
  • Current and historic missed priority dates
  • Analysis as to the nature of clients (e.g. existing client )
As the nominated Compliance Officer for Legal Practice what do I need to consider in terms of disclosures to the SRA if my firm is removed off the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel?
What you should do largely depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Cambridge Building Society 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 compliance officer 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 Cambridge Building Society.
Can the BSA assist me in an appeal having not been accepted onto the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel?
If you have not been accepted or indeed been removed from the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel then the BSA will not have any part to play in influencing Cambridge Building Society in changing their mind. Please contact us here at Lexsure so that we can put you in touch with a consultant who may be able to assist. At the very least it’s worth a call to us.
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 Cambridge Building Society Approved Conveyancing Solicitors

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Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Cambridge Building Society
This information relates to purchase only and not remortgages.
YearDays*
2024 [no data]
2023 [no data]
2022 [no data]
2021 [no data]
2020 [no data]
2019 [no data]
* Data aggregated from sources including COMPLETIONmonitor