Newbury Mortgage Services Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

COMPLETIONmonitor is an online pre- and post-completion checklist for property lawyers. Supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and PI insurers such as AmTrust. 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 Newbury Mortgage Services’s changes. While utilising this technology is not a prerequisite for Newbury Mortgage Services , demonstrating you can stay up to date with Newbury Mortgage Services’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your application to their lender panel and, just as 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 user friendly, cost-effective and, for many firms, results in reduced PII premiums.

Find a Law Firm approved by Newbury Mortgage Services

Banks and building societies frequently change their requirements. The BSA instructions from Newbury Mortgage Services 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, Newbury Mortgage Services has made 12 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the BSA Requirements.
That equates to a section change every 227.5 days. In total, 9% of the sections of the BSA Requirements for Newbury Mortgage Services have been changed since 26/1/2010.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

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Newbury Mortgage Services Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public

For what reasons would a law firm be excluded from the Newbury Mortgage Services approved conveyancing panel?
A survey recently commissioned by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority found that three quarters of law firms had been excluded 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 Newbury Mortgage Services
Much to my surprise my property lawyer has informed me that he requires proof of ID documents asserting that this forms part of his requirements as a solicitor on the Newbury Mortgage Services Conveyancing panel. Can this be correct?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offense if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage with Newbury Mortgage Services your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy Newbury Mortgage Services
Your search tool is useful but there are many lawyers listed near London on the Newbury Mortgage Services conveyancing panel. It would be a lot more helpful if you could recommend a specific firm on the conveyancing panel for Newbury Mortgage Services ?
We do not recommend specific firms as the right firm for you depends on where your priorities lie. For example you may require a local firm with local knowledge or you might be looking for the low cost conveyancing. Before you appoint your lawyer we advise you to speak to two or three of the firms listed to gain comfort as to which one is right for you..
The firm that I appointed last week on my purchase in Brighton has suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Newbury Mortgage Services conveyancing panel and my previous lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £175 for searches. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. 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 Newbury Mortgage Services 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 should be in a position to help
Are all conveyancing solicitors on the Newbury Mortgage Services conveyancing panel regulated by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Newbury Mortgage Services conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
Why might a lender such as Newbury Mortgage Services withdraw a mortgage offer?
Banks and Building Societies such as Newbury Mortgage Services can revoke their mortgage offer although this rarely happens. In the unlikely event that Newbury Mortgage Services withdraw their offer they may or may not inform you or the lawyer as to their reasoning. There are various possible reasons but here are a few examples:
  • Many mortgage offers have an expiry date. Your lawyer should check this. Newbury Mortgage Services may amend or withdraw an offer before the end of its validation period if an offer extension is requested and following a re-evaluation of the property the value of the security is below a level which is acceptable to them.
  • If the financial circumstances of the borrower have changed to the detriment and the Newbury Mortgage Services has been notified
  • Following advice from the valuer on their lender panel or If the lender has doubts about the effectiveness of the valuation as a result of subsequent events or information received post valuation but pre completion
  • Where the lender is on notice of a restriction or a right of pre-emption which is not at market value
  • Where the Lender’s right to possession is fettered in some way
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat. I have a mortgage offer with Newbury Mortgage Services. 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 Newbury Mortgage Services you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Newbury Mortgage Services conveyancing panel.