National Counties Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

As is the case with the Law Society the Council of Licensed Conveyancers has entered discussions with lenders 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 via ad hoc arrangements that can differ from lender to lender. We expect that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as National Counties Building Society as well as the BSA.

You need to be careful 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. Lenders such as Nationwide BS 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.

You have a number of obligations in this regard which are to followed if you wish to comply with your lender client’s instructions as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. First, You must take reasonable steps to verify that there are no discrepancies between the description of the property as valued and the title and other documents which a reasonably competent conveyancer should obtain, and, if there are, you must tell National Counties Building Society immediately. Second, You should take reasonable steps to verify that the assumptions stated by the valuer about the title (for example, its tenure, easements, boundaries and restrictions on its use) in the valuation and as stated in National Counties Building Society’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let National Counties Building Society know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for National Counties Building Society to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. National Counties Building Society are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. Thirdly, National Counties Building Society recommend that you should advise the borrower that there may be defects in the property which are not revealed by the inspection carried out by their valuer and there may be omissions or inaccuracies in the report which do not matter to them as a lender but which would matter to the borrower. National Counties Building Society recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that National Counties Building Society have obtained, you should also advise the borrower that the borrower should not rely on the report in deciding whether to proceed with the purchase and that he obtains his own more detailed report on the condition and value of the property, based on a fuller inspection such as a homebuyers report or comprehensive survey. If you do not receive a copy of the valuation you can always ask for a copy of one from National Counties Building Society or the borrower. You still need to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Requirement relating to valuation reports even if you don't receive one directly. Failure to comply not only runs the risk of facing a claim by the lender but also being removed from the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel

With banks and conveyancing firms working so closely together it is surprising that there has not been greater demand for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel but for all mortgage panel listings

The Law Society’s CQS membership is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors. A number of Lenders now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC.

You would be advised to communicate with National Counties Building Society to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook has a specific section for lenders to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. National Counties Building Society in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to disclose the firm’s National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel number.