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England & Wales · SRA / CLC firms

Royal Bank of Scotland redemption statements, for conveyancers

The route is set out in Part 2 of the Handbook, and Part 2 is amended without notice. What to ask Royal Bank of Scotland for, and what to confirm before completion.

Royal Bank of Scotland redemptions at a glance
Minimum notice
5 working days
Handbook reference
Part 2 · 17.2.1a/b
Royal Bank of Scotland Part 2 last changed
2026
Years with a change
10 of the 10 to 2026
Jurisdiction
England & Wales

Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook is amended by lenders without notice. Check the current version before relying on any requirement described here.

Notice, authority and account numbers on a Royal Bank of Scotland redemption

This page describes a redemption statement as a process. It deliberately stops short of reproducing any lender's own answer, because Part 2 is amended without notice and a stale copy on a page someone acts on is worse than no copy at all.

What slows a redemption down is almost never the calculation. It is a request that arrives without a date, without a statement of authority, or without one of the accounts the charge secures.

  1. Notice period

    Five working days minimum, so a revised figure can be obtained if the completion date moves.

  2. Authority

    A redemption figure should only be requested where you have been retained by the borrower or hold their written authority. Say which applies when you ask.

  3. Account numbers

    Quote every account or roll number you know of. A partial list produces a figure that does not clear the charge.

  4. Payment by cheque

    As a guard against fraud, make the cheque payable to Royal Bank of Scotland and quote the mortgage account or roll number and the borrower's name.

  5. Telegraphic transfers

    A transfer that cannot be matched to an account creates exactly the delay you are trying to avoid. Send the borrower's mortgage account number and your firm's name and address with the transfer.

What to confirm on the Royal Bank of Scotland statement, and what to ask about

Nothing here is about the arithmetic, which is the lender's. It is about what the figure relates to, what it covers, what it has assumed, and what it itemises.

01

Does it match the charge you are redeeming

Read the account reference on the statement against the charge on the official copies rather than against your file note. A borrower can hold more than one secured account with Royal Bank of Scotland, and the two look alike on a letter.

02

Does it cover everything that charge secures

A single charge can stand behind several advances, including further lending taken years later. A figure that clears one advance leaves the charge on the register, and the loans it does not cover are the ones nobody mentioned.

03

What has it assumed about the final month

Mid-month redemptions are treated differently by different lenders: some take the whole month, some exclude payments falling after the redemption date. Where the statement does not say, get the assumption in writing before you tell the client anything about the direct debit.

04

Are the charges itemised, and does the client recognise them

Early repayment and final repayment charges belong on the face of the statement. Send the client a copy so they can confirm every loan they meant to redeem is on it, and send your completion statement in time for the payment to be authorised.

What follows a Royal Bank of Scotland redemption at HM Land Registry

On the day of completion, send the discharge, if one is required, together with your remittance for the repayment. Part 2 of the Handbook is where the route is set out: one paragraph asks where the discharge and repayment remittance go, and the next asks whether the lender discharges by DS1 or direct with HM Land Registry. Check the current answers for Royal Bank of Scotland before completion.

An electronic discharge is sent from the lender's system straight to HM Land Registry, which runs its checks and, in most cases, cancels the charge entries immediately on receipt. It needs no separate paper application and no manual intervention, and it can only be used for a discharge of whole. An e-DS1 is a distinct route: the lender indicates on the redemption statement that it will use one, you tell them which charges are being redeemed and pay in the normal way, and the lender submits the e-DS1 once the correct payment has been received.

Where the position is not explicit, the guidance the Building Societies Association and the Law Society issued to their members in 1985 still describes the expectation: lenders should aim to return the receipted mortgage or Form DS1 within seven days, and should tell the seller's solicitor if there is likely to be a delay beyond that, so the buyer's solicitor can lodge an application to protect priority.

Not a rhetorical instruction: Royal Bank of Scotland has changed its Part 2 in 10 of the 10 years to 2026, most recently in 2026. Counted from the Lexsure Part 2 change record, which holds the years a Part 2 was amended rather than what any amendment said. Part 2 is amended without notice, so the version to read is the current one whichever way that count goes.

Royal Bank of Scotland redemptions: questions conveyancers ask

Quote both and say so. A charge can be transferred, renumbered or consolidated over its life, and the reference a borrower has kept is often the original one. Asking Royal Bank of Scotland to reconcile them is quicker than raising a figure against the wrong reference and finding out later.

No. An electronic discharge covers a discharge of whole only, and a release of part is a different application with different evidence behind it. Treat anything other than a straightforward redemption of the whole title as outside what is described here.

The guidance the Building Societies Association and the Law Society issued in 1985 still describes the expectation: the receipted mortgage or Form DS1 inside seven days, and notice to the seller’s solicitor where a delay beyond that is likely, so the buyer’s solicitor can lodge an application to protect priority.

Treat it as out of date and ask for a revised one. A redemption figure is calculated to a stated date, interest accrues daily, and the five-working-day notice period exists precisely so there is room to ask again when the date shifts.

Some lenders offer a same-day or next-day route and some do not, and it is not something to assume on a file. Ask Royal Bank of Scotland what it offers before you build a completion date around it.

Is your firm listed where borrowers are looking?

Panel membership decides whether you can act at all. LenderPanel maintains the directory borrowers search when they are choosing a conveyancer, including for Royal Bank of Scotland.

Lender Monitor is an independent reference service for regulated conveyancers. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland, or of any other lender named on this page. Where a lender's name appears, it appears for nominative identification only, to say which lender the guidance is about. Search functionality on this page is provided by LenderPanel.com.