Ecology Building Society Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Looking for information about your firm's panel status?

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How can my firm apply to be on the Ecology Building Society Conveyancing Panel?
Check your firm’s panel Status
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How can my firm be reinstated onto the Ecology Building Society Conveyancing Panel?
Check your firm’s panel Status

COMPLETIONmonitor is an online pre- and post-completion checklist for property lawyers. It is supported by PI insurers such as AmTrust. It is a unique risk mitigation tool.

This software assists the way you can demonstrate to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their instructions, with notifications given on Ecology Building Society’s changes. Notwithstanding that utilising COMPLETIONmonitor is not a prerequisite for Ecology Building Society , demonstrating you can stay up to date with Ecology Building Society’s Handbook requirements is a helpful support to your application to their lender panel and, more importantly, safeguard your firm’s panel standing.

COMPLETIONmonitor creates real-time alerts, automatically produces COLP and CQS reports, and will increase your firm's efficiency. It is also user friendly, cost-effective and, for many firms, leads to reduced PII premiums.

Find a Law Firm approved by Ecology Building Society

Banks and building societies often vary their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from Ecology 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, Ecology Building Society has made 234 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the UK Finance Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 11.7 days. In total, 51% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Ecology Building Society have been changed since 15/12/2008.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

FAQs : The Ecology Building Society Solicitor Panel from members of the public

For what reasons would a law firm be excluded from the Ecology Building Society approved conveyancing panel?
A survey recently commissioned by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority found that three quarters of solicitor practices had been removed from a lender panel. The most common reasons in order are :
  1. Low volume of transactions
  2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
  3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction
  4. regulatory contact by SRA
  5. accidental removal. We are not aware of the specific or common criteria for removal by Ecology Building Society
We are only a couple days away from an exchange and my mum and dad having sent the 10% deposit to my lawyer. I am now advised that as the deposit has not come from me my lawyer needs to make a notification to my lender Ecology Building Society. Apparently, being on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel and acting on their behalf he must inform Ecology Building Society if the balance of the mortgage advance is coming from anyone other than me. I informed the bank about my parent’s contribution when I applied for the mortgage so is it really necessary for him to raise this?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with Ecology Building Society to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only report this to Ecology Building Society if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I am searching for online conveyancing estimates. Can I be confident that all the practices that are identified on your site are on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel?
The law firms on our directory have assured us via an online form that they are on the Ecology Building Society panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Ecology Building Society panel. To date we have not been informed by either a bank or a member of the public that the data about a specific firm being on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel is incorrect.
My lawyers in Newcastle have advised me that no longer have my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with Ecology Building Society. Is it case that being on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a number of years?
Different lenders have different requirements but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the Ecology Building Society Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting Ecology Building Society directly.
When it comes to lenders such as Ecology Building Society do lawyers have to be pay a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with Ecology 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 have 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 Ecology Building Society you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel.
My offer on house has been 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 do I do now? At what point should I appy for the mortgage with Ecology Building Society?
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 Ecology Building Society 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 Ecology Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.

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