Ipswich Building Society Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Lexsure’s COMPLETIONmonitor is web-based 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 assists the way you can demonstrate to lender panels that you are, and can stay fully compliant with their instructions, with alerts on Ipswich Building Society’s changes. Even though using COMPLETIONmonitor is not a condition for being on the Ipswich Building Society panel, demonstrating you can stay up to date with Ipswich Building Society’s Handbook requirements is a helpful support to your panel application and, more importantly, protect your firm’s panel standing.

COMPLETIONmonitor creates real-time alerts, automatically produces SRA and CQS reports, and will improve your firm's efficiency. It is also user friendly, cost-effective and, for some firms, results in a PII saving.

Find a Law Firm approved by Ipswich Building Society

Banks and building societies often vary their requirements. The BSA instructions from Ipswich 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, Ipswich Building Society has made 38 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the BSA Requirements.
That equates to a section change every 71.8 days. In total, 35% of the sections of the BSA Requirements for Ipswich Building Society have been changed since 26/1/2010.

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Recent Changes Include

# Date Assoc. Changes Related To
D.13 23/11/2018 BSA
Conveyancing Searches: Personal Searches and/or insurance
Ipswich Building Society approved lawyers clarification as to whether they accept personal searches/insurance and, if yes, the Ipswich Building Society requirements
E.12 21/03/2016 BSA
Mortgage Advance Mechanics
Details as to how Ipswich Building Society pay the mortgage advance to conveyancing panel lawyers
A.10 04/08/2014 BSA
General Mortgage Instructions
Contact details at Ipswich Building Society for conveyancing panel lawyers to obtain mortgage documentation
C.2 04/08/2014 BSA
Mortage valuation
Do Ipswich Building Society arrange for there to be a valuation report and if so, do they provide it to their approved lawyers ?
C.11 04/08/2014 BSA
Houses in Multipe Occupation
Ipswich Building Society approved conveyancer requirements where the property comes within the definition of a house in multiple occupation
D.14 04/08/2014 BSA
Conveyancing Searches: Personal Searches and/or insurance
Ipswich Building Society approved lawyers clarification as to whether they accept personal searches/insurance and, if yes, the Ipswich Building Society requirements
D.30 04/08/2014 BSA
Freehold and leasehold owner of multiple flats
Ipswich Building Society approved lawyers clarification as to whether they accept security which comprises a building converted into not more than four flats where the borrower occupies one of those flats and the borrower or another flat owner also owns the freehold of the building and the other flats are subject to long leases?
F.6 04/08/2014 BSA
Transfer of Equity
Ipswich Building Society requirements for conveyancing panel lawyers as to whether Ipswich Building Society need to be sent the Transfer of Equity
A.12 04/08/2014 BSA
Conveyancing Panel
Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel criteria
D.11 04/08/2014 BSA
Conveyancing Searches: Environmental Searches
Ipswich Building Society approved lawyers requirement as to whether they want receive environmental or contaminated land reports

Last update 25/03/2020

Examples of recent questions relating to the Ipswich Building Society Conveyancing Panel from members of the public

I instructed a law firm to conduct the legal paperwork on my remortgage 5 weeks ago having applied for a mortgage with Ipswich Building Society. The solicitors reassured me that they are on Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel and advised me their panel number. Ipswich Building Society then told me that their panel number was dormant and would need to be reactivated. What happens next? Should I appoint a new solicitor currently on the approved panel for Ipswich Building Society?
The answer depends on whether you still have confidence in the said solicitors and how long it will take for the firm to be reinstated on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel You may wish to enlist the help of your broker to check with the Ipswich Building Society as to how long they think it will take to get the firm to get back on the panel.
My lawyer has spotted an inconsistency when comparing the information in Ipswich Building Society’s home valuation report and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My solicitor has advised that as he is on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel he is duty bound to ensure that the bank is happy with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my solicitor’s approach legitimate?
A precondition to being on the Ipswich Building Society approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Ipswich Building Society) which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
What tools are available to search for a local solicitor on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20 miles to meet the lawyer.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel search 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 Ipswich Building Society solicitor panel.
The firm that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Brighton has suddenly shut down. I only went with them because I needed a solicitor on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel and my previous lawyer was not. I gave them a cheque for £150 in advance. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would 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 Ipswich 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 solicitors may be able to assist
Do most lenders operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel requirements are different to Ipswich Building Society’s conveyancing panel requirements.
Intending to buy a house with a mortgage with Ipswich Building Society. I have received an online quote from a licensed conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that they are on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel
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 in the pipeline. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What do I do now? At what point should I appy for the mortgage with Ipswich 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 Ipswich 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 Ipswich Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.