Bluestone Mortgages Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Lexsure’s COMPLETIONmonitor is an online pre- and post-completion checklist for residential conveyancing lawyers. Supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and PI insurers. It is a unique risk mitigation tool.

This software optimises the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their requirements, with alerts on Bluestone Mortgages’s changes. Notwithstanding that using the tool is not a condition for acceptance on the Bluestone Mortgages panel, demonstrating you can stay up to date with Bluestone Mortgages’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your application to their lender panel and, more importantly, protect your panel standing.

The software creates real-time alerts, automatically produces regulatory and CQS reports, and will increase your firm's efficiency. In addition it is user friendly, cost-effective and, for some firms, results in reduced PII premiums.

Find a Law Firm approved by Bluestone Mortgages

Mortgage companies frequently vary their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from Bluestone Mortgages are not guidelines, they are instructions from a client. As with many clients, instructions can change - and they do change, frequently:

A Timeline of Policy Changes


Since 2008, Bluestone Mortgages has made 257 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 10.6 days. In total, 60% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Bluestone Mortgages have been changed since 15/12/2008.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

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Common questions asked concerning the Bluestone Mortgages Solicitor Panel from members of the public

How easy is it to change a solicitor as I need to find one who is on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel. Is it practical to instruct different lawyers?
If you haven't yet instructed a solicitor to do anything for you and have just received quotes, you're perfectly free to choose a different solicitor to carry out your work for you. The best way is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually used the solicitor or conveyancer you're considering.
Our conveyancer has discovered a legal deficiency with the lease for the flat we are buying. The other side have put forward title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our solicitor has advised that as he is on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel he must be satisfied that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is Bluestone Mortgages?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and Bluestone Mortgages are the client. A precondition to being on the Bluestone Mortgages approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Bluestone Mortgages). The CML Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that Bluestone Mortgages can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
I am looking for competitive conveyancing fees. Can I be sure that all the law firms that are listed on your website are on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel?
The solicitor and licensed conveyancing practices on our directory have assured us via an online form that they are on the Bluestone Mortgages panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Bluestone Mortgages panel. To date we have not been informed by either a lender or a member of the public that the data about a specific firm being on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel is incorrect.
What happens if my solicitor is removed from the Bluestone Mortgages Solicitor panel in advance of completion?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
Is the case that all CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel?
Some major lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their panels.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Bluestone Mortgages as we wish to carry out a loft conversion to our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Bluestone Mortgages do not ordinarily instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Bluestone Mortgages panel
Hi, thinking about buying a house off my mate. Once we agree a price, what’s the best way to move forward? I hope to get a mortgage with Bluestone Mortgages. Is there anyway to cut out the solicitors to save on the costs? My father said that years ago it was possible to take the documents into the local Land Registry office and they did the rest
If you are getting a mortgage with Bluestone Mortgages involved you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel. We would not encourage you to both use the same solicitors' firm. There are clear conflict of interest issues and it's not going to make a huge difference to the speed of the overall process. So as not to hold things us you should pass on your solicitors details to Bluestone Mortgages. Feel free to use our search tool to look for a licensed conveyancer or solicitor on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel.