St James Place Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

COMPLETIONmonitor is an online pre- and post-completion checklist for residential conveyancing lawyers. Supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and PI insurers such as AmTrust. COMPLETIONmonitor is a unique risk management tool.

This software facilitates the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their requirements, with notifications given on St James Place’s changes. Notwithstanding that using this technology is not a prerequisite for St James Place , demonstrating you can remain up to date with St James Place’s Handbook requirements is a helpful support to your panel application and, more importantly, protect your panel standing.

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

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Lenders often vary their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from St James Place 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, St James Place has made 29 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 94.1 days. In total, 12% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for St James Place have been changed since 15/12/2008.

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Recent Changes Include

# Date Assoc. Changes Related To
5.5.1b 01/12/2014 CML
conveyancing requirements in terms of time for building regulation consents
6.14.1a 01/12/2014 CML
contact point if property is not insured in accordance with lender requirement
6.14.1b 01/12/2014 CML
buildings insurance in joint names or lender interest noted
6.14.1c 01/12/2014 CML
buildings insurance total sum insured calculation
3.1.5 01/12/2014 CML
ID Documentation
St James Place Bank approved lawyers requirements re ID Documentation: Further acceptable documents (if any)
10.2a 01/12/2010 CML
Mortgage Advance and Certificate of Title
Do St James Place Bank send the mortgage advance electronically or by cheque?
17.2.1b 01/12/2010 CML
Evidence of Discharge of Mortgage
Do St James Place Bank send the discharge via a DS 1 form or direct with the Land Registry?
5.5.1b 01/12/2010 CML
conveyancing requirements in terms of time for building regulation consents
6.6.4 01/12/2010 CML
Houses in Multipe Occupation
St James Place Bank panel conveyancer requirements where the property comes within the definition of a house in multiple occupation
6.6.1 19/10/2010 CML
contact point if property is let/to be let and to check lender requirements on buy-to-let

Last update 27/05/2019

Q and A’s regarding the St James Place Solicitor Panel from members of the public

The solicitor my husband and I wanted to use for conveyancing on a remortgage said he will levy higher legal fees if my mortgage is with St James Place because of their difficult processes! Am I likely to be frustrated using St James Place? Any comments will be appreciated
St James Place conveyancing requirements for their panel are no better or no more complicated than most lenders. It is the case now the CML Handbook, the "bible" used by solicitors to establish lender requirements, is different for each lender. It is not clear if your lawyer is on the St James Place conveyancing panel. If they are not, this does add further risk of delay as St James Place will appoint their own solicitors to look after their interest.
I am purchasing a newly constructed flat and my solicitor is telling me that she is duty bound to disclose incentives from the seller as her firm is on the St James Place conveyancing panel. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange and my preference is not to delay deal. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on the St James Place approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on St James Place). The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to have a meeting at the offices of the St James Place conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Manchester so that I can pop in to their offices when needed.
Most conveyancing panel lawyers for St James Place undertake all of the work via the post, internet or over the phone. This means that they can undertake your Conveyancing Transaction no matter where you live in England or Wales. However you should check if you can still book an appointment to go into appointed conveyancing lawyer if you prefer.
I am considering applying for a St James Place mortgage for purchase of a newly converted (under development) with 70% LTV. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for St James Place?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on St James Place conveyancing panel, but St James Place would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.
Is the case that all CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors on the St James Place conveyancing panel?
Some major lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their panels.
We were going to get a DIP from St James Place this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc).Do the St James Place recommend a solicitor on the St James Place conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently
You will need to appoint solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the St James Place conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and the St James Place through the process.
I had an offer accepted on an apartment on the 7th January 2014, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to St James Place and chasing them on my offer I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the St James Place conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for St James Place to deal with your lawyers application to be on the St James Place conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.