Ipswich Building Society Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Lexsure’s COMPLETIONmonitor is web-based pre- and post-completion checklist for property lawyers. Supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and PI insurers. 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 instructions, with alerts on Ipswich Building Society’s changes. Notwithstanding that utilising the software 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 an excellent support to your panel application and, more importantly, safeguard your firm’s panel standing.

The software generates real-time alerts, automatically produces regulatory and CQS reports, and will improve your firm's efficiency. It is also user friendly, cost-effective and, for many firms, results in a PII saving.

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Banks and building societies often change 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, over time:

A Timeline of Policy Changes


Since 2010, Ipswich Building Society has made 35 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the BSA Requirements.
That equates to a section change every 78.0 days. In total, 34% 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.34 18/09/2017 BSA
Leasehold Conveyancing
Ipswich Building Society panel lawyers leasehold conveyancing requirements : minimum unexpired lease term
C.13 23/06/2015 BSA
New Build Conveyancing
Ipswich Building Society panel conveyancer requirements for New Build Conveyancing : Home Warranty Schemes
A.10 04/08/2014 BSA
General Mortgage Instructions
Contact details at Ipswich Building Society for approved lawyers to obtain mortgage documentation
C.15 04/08/2014 BSA
New Build Conveyancing
Ipswich Building Society approved conveyancer requirements for New Build Conveyancing : will the Ipswich Building Society proceed if the property does not have the benefit of a new home warranty scheme
C.19 04/08/2014 BSA
Roads and Sewers
Ipswich Building Society requirements for conveyancing panel lawyers for unadopted roads or sewers
D.12 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.22 04/08/2014 BSA
Planning Permission and Building Regulation Consent
Ipswich Building Society approved lawyers clarification as to whether they need to send an original/copy of any building regulation consents and planning permissions
E.33 04/08/2014 BSA
Post Completion Conveyancing
Which documents should approved lawyersfor Ipswich Building Society send the title deeds and documents following completion?
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
D.26 04/08/2014 BSA
Freehold and leasehold owner of multiple flats
Ipswich Building Society panel 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?

Last update 16/11/2018

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

I have been advised by my broker that I have to pay Ipswich Building Society fees should I instruct my family lawyer. How efficient are the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors? I dont care which law firm I use as long as they're good and reasonably priced. Are there any Ipswich Building Society conveyancers you'd recommend?
Ipswich Building Society’s conveyancing panel is pretty large so your best bet is just to check with the firms you are getting quotes from that they are on the panel. You can search by postcode on the search tool on this site to find solicitors that Ipswich Building Society will allow to act for them.
We are due to exchange on the purchase a house but as a result of damage from the recent storms I have agreed compensation from the seller of £3k approx by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but my mortgage company Ipswich Building Society will not agree to this. Why was Ipswich Building Society even consulted?
Your lawyer being on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel is duty bound to inform Ipswich Building Society of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyers to disclose the reduction to Ipswich Building Society then they would have to discontinue acting for you and Ipswich Building Society.
Do all the firms listed on your directory have online case tracking as I understood that this was a condition of being on the Ipswich Building Society solicitor panel?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders or BSA do not require online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
The lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Hendon has without warning closed. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel and my family lawyer was not. I gave them a cheque for £150 in advance. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know 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 will need to 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 lawyers may be able to assist
Is the case that all CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel?
Some major lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of firms.
I previously instructed online conveyancers located in London who are on the Ipswich Building Society solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a separate fee of £195 for dealing with the Ipswich Building Society mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Ipswich Building Society?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Ipswich Building Society but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Ipswich Building Society will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a solicitor having made sure that they are on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property? Or I've read lots of mortgage guides,I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my solicitor - who is on the Ipswich Building Society conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Ipswich Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Ipswich 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 Ipswich Building Society you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.