Saffron Building Society Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

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

This system assists the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their requirements, with alerts on Saffron Building Society’s changes. Notwithstanding that using this technology is not a prerequisite for Saffron Building Society , demonstrating you can remain up to date with Saffron Building Society’s Handbook requirements is a helpful support to your application to their lender panel and, just as importantly, safeguard your panel standing.

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

Find a Law Firm approved by Saffron Building Society

Lenders frequently vary their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from Saffron Building Society are not guidelines, they are instructions from a client. As with many clients, instructions can change - and they do change, over time:

A Timeline of Policy Changes


Since 2008, Saffron Building Society has made 139 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 19.6 days. In total, 58% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Saffron Building Society have been changed since 15/12/2008.

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Frequently asked questions relating to the Saffron Building Society Solicitor Panel from members of the public

I instructed a solicitor to carry out on my remortgage 5 weeks ago having applied for a mortgage with Saffron Building Society. The firm confirmed to me that they are on Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel and provided me their panel number. Saffron Building Society then told me that their panel number was dormant and would need to be reactivated. What do I do from here? Do I instruct a different law firm currently on the approved panel for Saffron Building Society?
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 Saffron Building Society as to the time frame to get your lawyer reinstated on the panel once again.
We are due to exchange on the purchase a house but as a result of damage from the recent storms I have agreed compensation from the seller of £3k approx by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but my mortgage company Saffron Building Society will not agree to this. Why was Saffron Building Society even consulted?
Your lawyer being on the Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel is duty bound to inform Saffron Building Society of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyers to disclose the reduction to Saffron Building Society then they would have to discontinue acting for you and Saffron Building Society.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Saffron Building Society approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the Saffron Building Society conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the Saffron Building Society solicitor panel.
My grandfather passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor was left the house. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Saffron Building Society , pay off the mortgage etc. Is this possible?
If you intend to re-mortgage then Saffron Building Society will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Saffron Building Society mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Is it the case that all conveyancing lawyers on the Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel work on a no sale no fee basis?
In the main 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 recently had an offer accepted on an apartment. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers I paid an upfront payment of 150. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Saffron Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Saffron Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Saffron Building Society mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Saffron Building Society mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Saffron Building Society mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Saffron Building Society in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.