Royal Bank of Scotland Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Mortgage Lenders is an association rather than a regulator and therefore do not advise on complaints against lenders. You can of course contact Lexsure to see if we can assist.

The criteria to join the Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.

In the same way that there is a unique Royal Bank of Scotland 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. The BSA have not published the equivalent of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3s.

Given that your practice in is on the Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel and you are acting for them in relation to a leasehold property, you must report to them if it becomes apparent that the landlord is either absent or insolvent. If Royal Bank of Scotland are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check Royal Bank of Scotland’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether Royal Bank of Scotland will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for Royal Bank of Scotland alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee freeholder.

CQS accreditation is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to join their panels. A number of Lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as Astra Mortgages.

You need to communicate with Royal Bank of Scotland to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains an explicit section for banks to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. Royal Bank of Scotland in their Part 2’s state: Don’t forget to quote the firm’s Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel number.