Cumberland Building Society 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 mitigation tool.

This system facilitates the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their requirements, with notifications given on Cumberland Building Society’s changes. Even though using the software is not a condition for acceptance on the Cumberland Building Society panel, demonstrating you can remain up to date with Cumberland Building Society’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your application to their lender panel and, just as importantly, protect your firm’s panel standing.

COMPLETIONmonitor creates real-time alerts, automatically produces regulatory and CQS reports, and will improve your firm's efficiency. In addition it is simply to use, cost-effective and, for some firms, results in reduced PII premiums.

Find a Law Firm approved by Cumberland Building Society

Banks and building societies often vary their requirements. The BSA instructions from Cumberland 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 2010, Cumberland Building Society has made 78 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the BSA Requirements.
That equates to a section change every 35.0 days. In total, 34% of the sections of the BSA Requirements for Cumberland Building Society have been changed since 26/1/2010.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

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Recent Changes Include

# Date Assoc. Changes Related To
A.10 05/03/2019 BSA
General Mortgage Instructions
Contact details at Cumberland Building Society for conveyancing panel lawyers to obtain mortgage documentation
B.22 05/03/2019 BSA
Occupiers at the Property
Cumberland Building Society panel conveyancer requirements for adult occupiers : Do Cumberland Building Society require a consent to mortgage from all occupants aged 17 or over
C.2 05/03/2019 BSA
Mortage valuation
Do Cumberland Building Society arrange for there to be a valuation report and if so, do they provide it to their conveyancing panel lawyers ?
C.19 05/03/2019 BSA
Roads and Sewers
Cumberland Building Society requirements for approved lawyers for unadopted roads or sewers
D.32 05/03/2019 BSA
Commonhold
Cumberland Building Society approved lawyers clarification as to whether they lend where the title is commonhold
D.34 05/03/2019 BSA
Leasehold Conveyancing
Cumberland Building Society panel lawyers leasehold conveyancing requirements : minimum unexpired lease term
E.1 05/03/2019 BSA
General Mortgage Instructions
Contact details at Cumberland Building Society for approved lawyers to obtain mortgage documentation
E.10 05/03/2019 BSA
Conveyancing : retenions by mortgage company
Cumberland Building Society clarification to approved lawyers clarification as to who they release retentions (or instalments of the advance) to
D.24 05/03/2019 BSA
Flying Freeholds and Freehold Flats
Cumberland Building Society panel lawyers clarification as to whether they lend on flying freeholds and freehold flats
D.11 05/03/2019 BSA
Conveyancing Searches: Environmental Searches
Cumberland Building Society panel lawyers requirement as to whether they want receive environmental or contaminated land reports

Last update 30/11/2019

Cumberland Building Society Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public

I need to swap lawyers as my lawyer is not on the Cumberland Building Society panel of conveyancing solicitors. 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.
Please help. My conveyancer is advising me that he is legally obliged to apply for a Local Authority search stemming from the fact that the firm are on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel. Is this really necessary?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with Cumberland Building Society your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Cumberland Building Society’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Cumberland Building Society. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
Are the lawyers identified as being on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Cumberland Building Society?
The firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Cumberland Building Society directly.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is suspended from the Cumberland Building Society Conveyancing panel in advance of the completion date?
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.
In what circumstances might Cumberland Building Society amend or withdraw their mortgage offer?
Lenders such as Cumberland Building Society can withdraw their mortgage offer although this rarely happens. If Cumberland Building Society withdraw their offer they may or may not inform you or the lawyer as to the reasons why. There are many potential reasons but here are 5 examples:
  • Where information comes to Cumberland Building Society ‘s attention regarding the customers or the security that they were not aware of prior to offer that affects their original decision to lend
  • If the financial circumstances of the borrower have changed to the detriment and the Cumberland Building Society has been notified
  • If the borrower informs Cumberland Building Society of a change in security address
  • Where the lender has to take account a recent change in law
  • Where the Lender’s right to possession is fettered in some way
My existing mortgage is with Cumberland Building Society. My godfather retired last week and wants to pay off the mortgage left on the property. After Cumberland Building Society is paid, I want to transfer the property to my mother's name; How long will it roughly take? Do we need two separate solicitors on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel? I do not intend to live at the property once the Cumberland Building Society mortgage is discharged.
Although you do need to retain the services of a lawyer they dont need to be on the Cumberland Building Society panel. You will need a solicitor to draw up the transfer and to deal with the Land Registry formalities. The only thing you need to consider is that by selling at an undervalue so ask your lawyer about the implications. There could be an inheritance tax issue if you die within 7 years of this. There's no capital gains tax for you as it is your main residence.
Cumberland Building Society have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on house has been accepted, now what?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure these solicitors are on the lenders panel). Call up Cumberland Building Society or your broker and complete any relevant paperwork. Cumberland Building Society will tell you what documents they want. Cumberland Building Society will instruct a valuer. The valuer will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about week to get a mortgage offer. Cumberland Building Society will issue the offer to you and your lawyer. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing.