Newcastle Building Society Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions
from members of the public
My partner and I are FTBs. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Newcastle Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme.
Your property lawyers should contact Newcastle Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Newcastle Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My partner and I intend to remortgage our apartment with Newcastle Building Society. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. The solicitor on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Newcastle Building Society .This is solely used to protect the Newcastle Building Society if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave.
It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Newcastle Building Society had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Are there any apps to help search for a local solicitor on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 10 kilometers to meet the solicitor.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel search on this page. 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 Newcastle Building Society solicitor panel.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is suspended from the Newcastle Building Society Solicitor panel before completion?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
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 Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel requirements are different to Newcastle Building Society’s conveyancing panel criteria.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Newcastle Building Society as we wish to carry out a loft conversion to our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Newcastle Building Society would not normally instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Newcastle Building Society list
It is not clear whether my mortgage offer requires a lease extension . I have telephoned Newcastle Building Society on numerous occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My solicitor - who is on the Newcastle Building Society conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told not they would not lend in accordance with their CML Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I simply dont know who is right
As long as the conveyancer is on the Newcastle Building Society panel she or he must comply with the CML Handbook requirements for Newcastle Building Society. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that Newcastle Building Society will go ahead your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask Newcastle Building Society to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the remaining number of years left on the lease.
