Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Lexsure’s COMPLETIONmonitor is an online pre- and post-completion checklist for residential conveyancing lawyers. Supported by the CML and PI insurers such as AmTrust. It is a unique risk mitigation tool.

This system facilitates the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their instructions, with automatic updates on Chelsea Building Society’s changes. Even though using the tool is not a condition for acceptance on the Chelsea Building Society panel, demonstrating you can stay up to date with Chelsea Building Society’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your application to their lender panel and, just as importantly, safeguard your panel standing.

COMPLETIONmonitor generates real-time alerts, automatically produces SRA and CQS reports, and will improve your firm's efficiency. In addition it is simply to use, cost-effective and, for many firms, results in a PII saving.

Find a Law Firm approved by Chelsea Building Society

Lenders frequently vary their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from Chelsea Building Society 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, Chelsea Building Society has made 367 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 7.4 days. In total, 32% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Chelsea Building Society have been changed since 15/12/2008.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

Book a Personalised Demo

Recent Changes Include

# Date Assoc. Changes Related To
5.14.1 17/11/2016 CML
Leasehold Conveyancing
Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) panel lawyers leasehold conveyancing requirements : minimum unexpired lease term
14.1.5 01/12/2014 CML
Post Completion Conveyancing
Does the Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) need to be sent the original mortgage deed and/or any other original title documents by their conveyancing panel ?
16.3.2 01/12/2014 CML
Transfer of Equity
Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) details for requesting debt amount
5.5.1a 01/12/2014 CML
requirements in terms of time for planning consents
5.5.1b 01/12/2014 CML
conveyancing requirements in terms of time for building regulation consents
6.14.1c 01/12/2014 CML
buildings insurance total sum insured calculation
5.4.5 16/08/2013 CML
Conveyancing Searches: Personal Searches
Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) panel lawyers clarification as to whether they accept personal searches and, if yes, the Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) requirements
Local Search Indemnity Insurance
5.20.4 16/08/2013 CML
Green Deal Plans
Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) requirements for conveyancing panel/approved lawyers as to whether Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) need to be advised as to details of any existing Green Deal Plan(s) on a property
14.1.5 03/05/2013 CML
Post Completion Conveyancing
Does the Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) need to be sent the original mortgage deed and/or any other original title documents by their conveyancing panel ?
5.14.1 03/05/2013 CML
Leasehold Conveyancing
Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) approved lawyers leasehold conveyancing requirements : minimum unexpired lease term

Last update 17/07/2019

Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers from members of the public

I am selling my maisonette and the EA has just called to advise that the purchasers are swapping law firm. The excuse is that Chelsea Building Society will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only deal with certain law firms?
Banks have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, 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.

Our conveyancer is asking me for proof of ID documents stating that this is part of his obligations as a solicitor on the Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing panel. Am I being spun a yarn?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offense if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy Chelsea Building Society
What tools are available to find a local solicitor on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20 kilometers to meet the lawyer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel tool on this website. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the Chelsea Building Society solicitor panel.
I am selling my house. Does my solicitor have to be on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. it might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently at the moment.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Chelsea Building Society. Solicitors have been appointed? How long does it take for Chelsea Building Society to send the offer to our conveyancer
There is no definitive answer here. Have Chelsea Building Society conducted the survey? Have you advised Chelsea Building Society as your lawyers details and checked that your lawyer is on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel? sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued
Completion of my purchase has taken place with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about Chelsea Building Society. How do I make a complaint?
All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the Chelsea Building Society branches or the Customer Care Department at Chelsea Building Society head office. Ordinarily complaints to Chelsea Building Society are sorted out effectively and efficiently. If you feel that the matter is not resolved you can write to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
I have instructed a lawyer having checked that they are on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property? Or Having read lots of mortgage guides,I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my solicitor - who is on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Chelsea Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Chelsea Building Society will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller. or Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.