Mortgage Express Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Lexsure’s COMPLETIONmonitor is web-based pre- and post-completion checklist for residential conveyancing lawyers. Supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and PI insurers. It is a unique risk mitigation tool.

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

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

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Banks and building societies frequently vary their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from Mortgage Express 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 2008, Mortgage Express has made 138 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 19.8 days. In total, 35% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Mortgage Express 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
17.1.1 06/01/2017 CML
Redemption Statements
Contact details at Mortgage Express for conveyancing panel lawyers to request redemption statements .
16.3.1 01/12/2010 CML
Transfer of Equity
Mortgage Express clarification as to whether they have a standard form of Transfer of Equity/Deed of Covenant?
16.3.7b 01/12/2010 CML
Transfer of Equity
Mortgage Express guidance to conveyancing panel lawyers for form of attestation clause for Transfer of Equity
17.2.1b 01/12/2010 CML
Evidence of Discharge of Mortgage
Do Mortgage Express send the discharge via a DS 1 form or direct with the Land Registry?
5.1.1 01/12/2010 CML
Properties owned for less than 6 months
Contact details at Mortgage Express for conveyancing panel lawyers where there is a restriction on use.
5.5.3a 01/12/2010 CML
Planning Permission and Building Regulations : Breaches
Contact details at Mortgage Express for approved lawyers where there evidence of breach and all outstanding conditions will not be satisfied by completion
Lack of Planning Permission Indemnity Insurance
6.3.1 01/12/2010 CML
Purchase Price
Contact details at Mortgage Express for approved lawyers to used where there are any issues relating to purchase price.
6.6.2 01/12/2010 CML
Buy to Let Conveyancing
Contact details at Mortgage Express for approved lawyers when law firm does not have details of current letting or letting to take place at completion.
6.6.4 01/12/2010 CML
Houses in Multipe Occupation
Mortgage Express approved conveyancer requirements where the property comes within the definition of a house in multiple occupation
6.6.1 03/12/2009 CML
contact point if property is let/to be let and to check lender requirements on buy-to-let

Last update 16/11/2019

FAQs for the Mortgage Express (No 2) Solicitor Panel from members of the public

I appointed a law firm to conduct the legal paperwork on my remortgage 4 weeks ago having applied for a mortgage with Mortgage Express (No 2). The firm assured me that they are on Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel and gave me their panel reference. Mortgage Express (No 2) then ,via my broker advised that their panel number was dormant and would need to be reactivated. What do I do from here? Should I appoint a new solicitor currently on the approved panel for Mortgage Express (No 2)?
You may be very frustrated with the lawyer but if it only go take a few more days they it may be worth waiting as, depending on how far progressed you are you may end up delaying the transaction by a number of weeks if you need to replace your solicitor You may wish to enlist the help of your broker to check with the Mortgage Express (No 2) as to how long they think it will take to get the firm to get back on the panel.
Can you clarify something for me?. For no fault of my lawyer but, the conveyancing for my house purchase has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Mortgage Express (No 2) was issued random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 6. My solicitor says that as she is on the Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel she needs to redo the searches as they are no longer acceptable to the lender.
One of the many conditions to being on the Mortgage Express (No 2) approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Mortgage Express (No 2))which states that a local authority search be not more than 6 months old. You should nevertheless ask your lawyer to check whether something called ‘search validation’ indemnity insurance is acceptable to Mortgage Express (No 2).
How do I search for a local solicitor on the Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20 kilometers to meet the lawyer.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel tool 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 Mortgage Express (No 2) solicitor panel.
We're in Liverpool, First timers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Mortgage Express (No 2) , but our solicitor is on the Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
Is the case that all CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors on the Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel?
It is true that some lenders now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation 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 join their approved list of firms.
Do conveyancing solicitors on the Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel work on a no sale no fee basis?
On the whole there are no requirements by lenders for their firms to operate on a no-sale-no-fee basis. There a small number of lenders who operate a very restricted conveyancing panel managed by a third party company (often termed in the industry as a ‘gatekeeper’). That third party may impose certain conditions such as non-sale-no fee on the panel firms. If you require this as a condition of your conveyancing then you should check with the conveyancing firm that this is part of their package
I have instructed a lawyer having made sure that they are on the Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property? Or Having digested plenty of house buying,I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my solicitor - who is on the Mortgage Express (No 2) conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Mortgage Express (No 2) will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Mortgage Express (No 2) 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 Mortgage Express (No 2) you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.