Capital Home Loans Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

COMPLETIONmonitor is an online pre- and post-completion checklist for property lawyers. Supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and PI insurers such as AmTrust. COMPLETIONmonitor is a unique risk management tool.

This software optimises the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their requirements, with automatic updates on Capital Home Loans’s changes. Notwithstanding that utilising COMPLETIONmonitor is not a condition for acceptance on the Capital Home Loans panel, demonstrating you can remain up to date with Capital Home Loans’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your panel application and, more importantly, safeguard your panel status.

The software creates real-time alerts, automatically produces COLP and CQS reports, and will enhance your firm's efficiency. In addition it is simply to use, cost-effective and, for many firms, leads to a PII saving.

Find a Law Firm approved by Capital Home Loans

Banks and building societies frequently vary their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from Capital Home Loans 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, Capital Home Loans has made 91 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 30.0 days. In total, 42% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Capital Home Loans have been changed since 15/12/2008.

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Recent Changes Include

# Date Assoc. Changes Related To
5.14.12 02/12/2014 CML
Leasehold Conveyancing
Capital Home Loans panel lawyers leasehold conveyancing requirements : requirement as to whether a clear ground rent/service charge receipt needs to be sent to them
5.5.1a 01/12/2014 CML
requirements in terms of time for planning consents
16.5.2 08/10/2013 CML
Deed of Variation
Contact details at Capital Home Loans for approved lawyers for confirming proposed deed of variation or agreement will not adversely affect Capital Home Loans
16.5.3a 08/10/2013 CML
Deed of Variation
Capital Home Loans requirements for conveyancing panel lawyers as to whether Capital Home Loans need to be sent a Deed of Variation
4.5a 08/10/2013 CML
Mortagge valuation - Reinspections
Contact details at Capital Home Loans for approved lawyers where re-inspection required
5.10.1 08/10/2013 CML
Properties owned for less than 6 months
Contact details at Capital Home Loans for conveyancing panel lawyers where the seller has owned the property for less than 6 months:.
6.1.3 08/10/2013 CML
Mortgage offer not taken up
Contact details at Capital Home Loans for approved lawyers where for reporting purposes if borrower is not taking up the mortgage offer
6.14.1a 08/10/2013 CML
contact point if property is not insured in accordance with lender requirement
5.7.1c 08/10/2013 CML
Flying Freeholds
Contact details at Capital Home Loans for approved lawyers where for reporting purposes where the property is a freehold flat or flying freehold, to which contact point must this be reported and where Capital Home Loans lend on such properties
5.5.1b 01/12/2010 CML
conveyancing requirements in terms of time for building regulation consents

Last update 24/03/2020

Common questions asked concerning the Capital Home Loans Solicitor Panel from members of the public

I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette and the estate agent has just texted me to warn that the purchasers are switching property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that Capital Home Loans will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only engage with certain law firms?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.

Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyer’s case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

I am due to complete my purchase next Tuesday. I have now been asked to send a copy of my building insurance schedule by my solicitor as as he informs me that he is duty bound to validate that it is in order for Capital Home Loans. What does the insurance need to cover?
Any lawyer on the Capital Home Loans conveyancing panel would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in Capital Home Loans’s Part 2 requirements of the CML Handbook (last updated on Capital Home Loans). Being on the Capital Home Loans conveyancing panel your lawyer is expect to follow these requirements.
Do I have to have a meeting at the offices of the Capital Home Loans conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will appoint a lawyer who conducts conveyancing in Bristol so that I can pop in to their offices if required.
As opposed to 15 years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Bristol .
I was due to complete on my dream home last Thursday. My lawyer’s firm is on the Capital Home Loans conveyancing panel but has changed address 8 weeks ago and had not advised Capital Home Loans of their new address. Capital Home Loans is now refusing to release my funds until such time as their systems are up to date with the correct details.
This is a rare situation indeed. The majority of lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Capital Home Loans branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can assist.
I previously instructed online conveyancers based in Birmingham who are on the Capital Home Loans solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a separate fee of £195 for dealing with the Capital Home Loans mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Capital Home Loans?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Capital Home Loans but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Capital Home Loans will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on somewhere, but not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties booked. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What should be my next step? At what point should I appy for the mortgage with Capital Home Loans?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey/valuation, conveyancing search costs, etc). First you should check that your solicitor is on the Capital Home Loans conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a hot mortgage some buyers would pally for the mortgage with Capital Home Loans and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.
Sometime soon me and my wife are acquiring a penthouse in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon need to begiven the go-ahead. My brokerrecommended that we check that the conveyancer in Hendon is on the Capital Home Loans panel. Is this right?
A limited percentage of Hendon conveyancing solicitors are on the Capital Home Loans conveyancing panel. Use the above search tool to find a Hendon conveyancing lawyer on the on the Capital Home Loans panel.