Darlington 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 professional indemnity insures. It is a unique risk mitigation tool.

This software assists the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their requirements, with notifications given on Darlington Building Society’s changes. Even though utilising the software is not a prerequisite for Darlington Building Society , demonstrating you can stay up to date with Darlington Building Society’s Handbook requirements is a helpful support to your panel application and, just as importantly, protect your firm’s panel standing.

COMPLETIONmonitor generates real-time alerts, automatically produces COLP and CQS reports, and will improve your firm's efficiency. In addition it is user friendly, cost-effective and, for many firms, leads to reduced PII premiums.

Find a Law Firm approved by Darlington Building Society

Mortgage companies often change their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from Darlington Building Society are not guidelines, they are instructions from a client. As with many clients, instructions can change - and they do change, over time:

A Timeline of Policy Changes


Since 2008, Darlington Building Society has made 247 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 11.1 days. In total, 59% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Darlington Building Society have been changed since 15/12/2008.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

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Recent Changes Include

# Date Assoc. Changes Related To
6.7.1 22/07/2019 CML
New Build Conveyancing
Darlington Building Society panel conveyancer requirements for New Build Conveyancing : Home Warranty Schemes
10.2b 17/07/2018 CML
Mortgage Advance and Certificate of Title
What is the minimum number of days notice Darlington Building Society require ahead of sending the mortgage advance?
6.7.4 21/08/2017 CML
New Build Conveyancing
Darlington Building Society panel conveyancer requirements for New Build Conveyancing : will the Darlington Building Society proceed if the property does not have the benefit of a new home warranty scheme
10.10 07/04/2017 CML
holding the mortgage advance
10.7 07/04/2017 CML
Mortgage Advance and Certificate of Title
In the event of a delayed completion, when and how is advance to be returned to Darlington Building Society by the conveyancing panel?
5.14.1 07/04/2017 CML
Leasehold Conveyancing
Darlington Building Society panel lawyers leasehold conveyancing requirements : minimum unexpired lease term
6.7.1 07/04/2017 CML
New Build Conveyancing
Darlington Building Society approved conveyancer requirements for New Build Conveyancing : Home Warranty Schemes
6.8.1 30/01/2017 CML
Roads and Sewers
Contact details at Darlington Building Society for approved lawyers if no agreement and bond for an unadopted road or sewer
Adoption of Road or Sewer Indemnity Insurance
3.1.3 30/01/2017 CML
Conveyancing Solicitors Details for Sellers
Do Darlington Building Society require notification form their panel lawyer of the name and address of the solicitors firm or licensed conveyancers firm acting for the seller?
6.14.1 30/11/2015 CML
Building Insurance
Darlington Building Society approved lawyers additional requirements concerning building insurance

Last update 19/09/2019

Common questions asked concerning the Darlington Building Society Conveyancing Panel from members of the public

My wife and I are novices when it comes to buying a property. Within the 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Darlington Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.

In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitors should contact Darlington Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Darlington Building Society will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

My husband and I intend to remortgage our penthouse with Darlington Building Society. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Darlington Building Society .This is solely used to protect the Darlington Building Society if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave.

It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Darlington Building Society had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

I am looking to buy a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Birmingham who is on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a conveyancing firm?
Our service is a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Darlington Building Society . We don’t recommend any particular firm.
The solicitors that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Hendon has suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel and my previous lawyer was not. I paid them £200 on account. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to help
How can we tell if a solicitor on the Darlington Building Society panel is any good?
Getting recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always advocate that you speak with the lawyer handling your conveyancing
My wife and I have arranged a further advance on our mortgage from Darlington Building Society as we wish to carry out alterations or improvements our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Darlington Building Society do not ordinarily instruct a member of their conveyancing panel 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 Darlington Building Society list
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat. I have a mortgage offer with Darlington Building Society. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event if you are getting a mortgage with Darlington Building Society you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel.