National Counties Building Society Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

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 remain fully compliant with their requirements, with automatic updates on National Counties Building Society’s changes. While using the tool is not a condition for acceptance on the National Counties Building Society panel, demonstrating you can stay up to date with National Counties Building Society’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your panel application and, more importantly, protect your firm’s panel status.

COMPLETIONmonitor creates real-time alerts, automatically produces regulatory and CQS reports, and will enhance your firm's efficiency. It is also simply to use, cost-effective and, for some firms, leads to a PII saving.

Find a Law Firm approved by National Counties Building Society

Lenders frequently change their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from National Counties 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 2008, National Counties Building Society has made 201 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 13.6 days. In total, 51% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for National Counties Building Society have been changed since 15/12/2008.

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Examples of recent questions relating to the National Counties Building Society Solicitor Panel from members of the public

I am in the process of selling my maisonette and the estate agent has just called to advise that the buyers are switching conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that National Counties Building Society will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with specific lawyers?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.

Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyer’s case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

My lawyer has uncovered an inconsistency when comparing the surveyor’s assumptions in National Counties Building Society’s valuation survey and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My solicitor has advised that as he is on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel he is obliged to ensure that the bank is with this discrepancy and is content go ahead. Is my solicitor’s course or action right?
A precondition to being on the National Counties Building Society approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on National Counties 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 both parties.
Do all the licensed conveyancers and solicitor practices listed on your search have online case tracking as I understood that this was a condition of being on the National Counties Building Society solicitor panel?
No. There is no CML Part 2 or Building Society Association requirement relating to online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
I am selling my house. Does my solicitor have to be on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. it might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently at the moment.
I had instructed online solicitors located in Birmingham who are on the National Counties Building Society solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £150 for dealing with the National Counties Building Society mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by National Counties 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 National Counties Building Society but by your lawyers. Some firms on the National Counties Building Society will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
My existing mortgage is with National Counties Building Society. My uncle has just retired and wants to pay off my mortgage. After National Counties Building Society is paid, I want to transfer the property to my mother's name; How long does the process take? Do we need two separate solicitors on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel? I do not intend to live at the property once the National Counties Building Society mortgage is discharged.
You will need a solicitor but they need not be on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel. You will need a solicitor to draw up the transfer and to deal with the Land Registry formalities. The only thing you need to consider is that by selling at an undervalue so ask your lawyer about the implications. There could be an inheritance tax issue if you die within 7 years of this. There's no capital gains tax for you as it is your main residence.
Can I register a complaint to National Counties Building Society about the lawyers being on the National Counties Building Society conveyancing panel?
Complaining to National Counties Building Society about their conveyancing panel is unlikely to yield much of a response. All solicitors and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. Usually one can find this information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.

The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is addressed by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.

If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.