Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

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

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How does my firm apply to be on the Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing Panel?

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How can my firm be reinstated onto the Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing Panel?

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Chelsea Building Society Solicitor Panel: Recently Asked Questions

my firm is on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel. Can I get an archived copy of a Chelsea Building Society Part 2 from the CML?

The CML do not maintain data sets of the Part 2's Pre January 2011. The CML recommend you contact Chelsea Building Society directly.

Can you recommend what we should do if we wish to lodge an appeal being removed from the Chelsea Building Society solicitor panel?

If you are removed from the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel and you are unaware of or disagree with the reasons for your removal you should: (a) Contact Chelsea Building Society directly. (b) If there is an appeals process detailed on your letter you should follow the process.

In appealing a decision by Chelsea Building Society, it may be useful to provide the following information:

Comprehensive account of your transaction history
A copy of your COMPLETIONmonitor reports if you use that service
Your recent claims history
comprehensive details of all employees in your firm and their position.
Note down if a solicitor has been admitted to the role on completion of the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test.
Supply copy practising certificates, the firm's current PII schedule and the firm’s accountant's certificate, calculating what % of the firm's gross fee income is resulting from residential conveyancing transactions

On appeal some firms have been able to regain membership to panels notwithstanding the policy by the respective lenders to refuse panel membership to firms with certain profiles or characteristics. Such an achievement is primarily due to the firms’ ability to persuade the lender to make an exception if there is sufficient evidence to reassure them that the firm is a ‘low risk’.

A recent SRA survey reveals that 76% of solicitors have been removed from a lender conveyancing panel. Chelsea Building Society and other lenders have restricted their panel over the years. Why?

In operating open conveyancing panels, lenders such as Chelsea Building Society face a number of fraud and negligence risks. While there is no authoritative source of data on lender exposure to solicitor–led mortgage fraud, anecdotal evidence from lenders indicates exposure on individual cases are often in the millions of pounds. The National Fraud Authority estimates that £1bn per year is lost in mortgage -related frauds in total, which is seen as a conservative estimate.

These risks are exacerbated by the lack of a comprehensive set of data on all conveyancing firms (which, for the avoidance of doubt, would include solicitors and conveyancers across the UK) which is in a readily accessible format. Currently, lenders vet the suitability of their panel firms against a variety of disparate, incomplete and potentially inaccurate sets of information. One top 5 lender pointed out to us that it is almost impossible to track individual fraudsters who move from firm to firm, especially where they are no longer registered or no longer hold a valid practicing certificate.

Chelsea Building Society and other 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. There is also regulatory impetus on lenders to ensure that they have satisfactory oversight of their third party panels, including a due-diligence process.

My PI renewal application this year contained the following question: ‘Has your Firm been asked by a lender to agree to more onerous terms and conditions than provided for in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook?’ My firm is on a number of lender panels including the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel. We have Terms and Conditions of appointment which we have to follow. Do I disclose these these Conditions ?

The concern here is if you are expect to enter into ‘more onerous’ conditions that than the Handbook obligations. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing appointment (or other terms for other lenders) are ‘more onerous’ than the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Conditions. Depending on the Terms you may need to provide details on your renewal form. If you are in any doubt please call your broker to discuss before completing the answer.

Lockton’s PI Insurance renewal form asks if my practice had been excluded from any bank panels in the last year. I just found out that the firm is no longer on the Chelsea Building Society solicitor panel? Will that impact my PII cover?

Your insurance brokers are your best port of call to address this question. The chances are that on the basis that you have not been removed for fraud or negligence reasons that there will be little or no impact. The main reason why a firm would be removed off of a lender panel is due to low volume of conveyancing cases although there may be a number of criteria for Chelsea Building Society solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

My firm is listed on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel and scheduled to complete a remortgage within the next few weeks. I dont have a Mortgage Deed for the client to execute. Who do I contact at Chelsea Building Society to get a duplicate Deed?

You would be advised to get in touch with Chelsea Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains a specific question for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Chelsea Building Society in their Part 2’s state:

Always remember to disclose the firm’s Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel number.

Find a Lawyer on the Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing Panel

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