Saffron Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

Criteria differ from lender to lender. We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

Full disciplinary history for each conveyancing solicitor

Whether the firm has ever knowingly accepted instructions on transactions involving Sale and Rent Back, Back to Back, Exchange and Delayed Completion and Lease Option, Below Market Value.

List of all those who can sign off the Certificate Of Title

PII Cover details, including, if relevant, whether the firm is or has been in the assigned risks pool and structure of cover – basic

House price discrepancies (declared to lender vs. registered at Land Registry)

Whether any lender has ever made a claim against the firm’s PII cover

List of all those who fund the firm, including non-lawyers if applicable

List of all those staff who work within the conveyancing team

Full career history for each solicitor including admission date to the relevant Law Society

List of all solicitors within firm

In the same way that there is a unique Saffron Building Society 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.

There are various requirements you need to follow 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 Saffron Building Society immediately. (b) 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 Saffron Building Society’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Saffron Building Society know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Saffron Building Society to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Saffron Building Society are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. (III) Saffron 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. Saffron Building Society recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Saffron 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 survey or structural survey. If you do not receive a copy of the valuation you can always ask for a copy of one from Saffron 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 Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel

Saffron Building Society approved panel lawyers are bound by the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook instructions relating to Transfer of Equity. These are set out in Section 16.3. First, your firm must approve the form of Transfer of Equity (which should be in the Land Registry's standard form) and, if Saffron Building Society require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check Saffron Building Society CML Part 2 conditions to see if Saffron Building Society have standard forms of transfer and deed of covenant. Please note that this requirement can change from one transaction to another so do check! Second,When drafting or approving a transfer, you should bear in mind that: although the transfer should state that it is subject to the mortgage (identified by date and parties), it need give no details of the terms of the mortgage; the transfer need not state the amount of the mortgage debt. If it does, the figure should include both principal and interest at the date of completion, which you must check ; there should be no statement that all interest has been paid to date. Further obligations are set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook which have to be followed by all firms on the Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel

The best placed professionals to answer this question are your insurance brokers. 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 Saffron Building Society solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to get in touch with Saffron Building Society to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains an explicit inquiry for banks to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Saffron Building Society in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose the firm’s Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel number.