Principality Building Society Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Lexsure’s COMPLETIONmonitor is an online pre- and post-completion checklist for property lawyers. Supported by the CML and PI insurers such as AmTrust. It is a unique risk mitigation tool.

This system optimises the way you can demonstrate to lender panels that you are, and can stay fully compliant with their instructions, with notifications given on Principality Building Society’s changes. Notwithstanding that utilising the tool is not a condition for being on the Principality Building Society panel, demonstrating you can remain up to date with Principality Building Society’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your panel application and, just as importantly, protect your panel status.

COMPLETIONmonitor generates real-time alerts, automatically produces COLP 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.

Find a Law Firm approved by Principality Building Society

Banks and building societies frequently change their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from Principality 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, Principality Building Society has made 273 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 10.0 days. In total, 64% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Principality Building Society 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
6.7.1 05/06/2018 CML
New Build Conveyancing
Principality Building Society approved conveyancer requirements for New Build Conveyancing : Home Warranty Schemes
10.7 29/11/2017 CML
Mortgage Advance and Certificate of Title
In the event of a delayed completion, when and how is advance to be returned to Principality Building Society by the conveyancing panel?
17.1.1 29/11/2017 CML
Redemption Statements
Contact details at Principality Building Society for approved lawyers to request redemption statements .
4.3 29/11/2017 CML
Mortage valuation
Contact details at Principality Building Society for conveyancing panel lawyers where assumptions stated by the valuer are incorrect
5.14.15a 29/11/2017 CML
Leasehold Conveyancing; Absentee Freeholder
Contact details at Principality Building Society for conveyancing panel lawyers where there is an absentee freeholder/insolvent landlord.
Absentee Landlord Indemnity Insurance
5.5.3a 29/11/2017 CML
Planning Permission and Building Regulations : Breaches
Contact details at Principality Building Society for conveyancing panel lawyers where there evidence of breach and all outstanding conditions will not be satisfied by completion
Lack of Planning Permission Indemnity Insurance
5.5.4 29/11/2017 CML
Planning Permission and Building Regulations : Restrictions
Contact details at Principality Building Society for conveyancing panel lawyers where the property is subject to restrictions which may affect its value or marketability
Restrictive Covenant Indemnity Insurance
6.6.4 29/11/2017 CML
Houses in Multipe Occupation
Principality Building Society approved conveyancer requirements where the property comes within the definition of a house in multiple occupation
5.7.1c 29/11/2017 CML
Flying Freeholds
Contact details at Principality Building Society for conveyancing panel lawyers where for reporting purposes where the property is a freehold flat or flying freehold, to which contact point must this be reported and where Principality Building Society lend on such properties
Flying Freehold Indemnity Insurance
6.7.1 09/05/2017 CML
New Build Conveyancing
Principality Building Society panel conveyancer requirements for New Build Conveyancing : Home Warranty Schemes

Last update 19/11/2019

FAQs : The Principality Building Society Solicitor Panel from members of the public

My partner and I are novices when it comes to buying a property. Within the 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Principality Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyers should contact Principality Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Principality Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Principality Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Principality 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.

Our property lawyer has informed me that he requires personal identification documents asserting that this forms part of his obligations as a solicitor on the Principality Building Society Solicitor panel. Am I being spun a yarn?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Client Care letter that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that Principality Building Society also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with Principality Building Society CML Handbook requirements last updated on Principality Building Society
Do all the firms listed on your search have online case tracking as I was under the impression that this was a precondition of being on the Principality 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 Principality Building Society conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Principality 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.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Principality Building Society as we wish to carry out alterations or improvements our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Principality Building Society conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Principality Building Society do not ordinarily appoint a member of 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 Principality Building Society list
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Principality Building Society. Solicitors have been appointed? How long does it take for Principality Building Society to send the offer to our conveyancer
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Principality Building Society completed the valuation? Have you advised Principality Building Society as your lawyers details and checked that your lawyer is on the Principality Building Society conveyancing panel? sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued
I'm in the throws of viewing apartments and now considering a potential offer. Is it best to have a conveyancer on ‘stand by’? I I am planning to take a mortgage with Principality Building Society
It would be sensible to have your start your search soon rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on the the estate agent. As you are getting a mortgage with Principality Building Society , make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Principality Building Society conveyancing panel.