St James Place Conveyancing Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public
We are purchasing a 3 bedroom flat in Hackney with a mortgage from St James Place. We have a lawyer but St James Place says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct one of the St James Place panel firms or keep our solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the St James Place conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for St James Place
My fiance and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse with St James Place. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the St James Place conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 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 property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the St James Place conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 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 St James Place .This is solely used to protect the St James Place 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 St James Place 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.
How do I search for a local solicitor on the St James Place conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25 miles to meet the conveyancer.
You can use 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 St James Place solicitor panel.
My solicitors in London have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. At the time of my purchase I took out a mortgage with St James Place. Is it case that being on the St James Place conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a number of years?
It very much depends from lender to lender but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the St James Place Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting St James Place directly.
I had instructed online conveyancers located in Bristol who are on the St James Place solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £175 for dealing with the St James Place mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by St James Place?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by St James Place but by your lawyers. Some firms on the St James Place will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
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 St James Place conveyancing panel requirements are different to St James Place’s conveyancing panel criteria.
I have paid off my mortgage with St James Place. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the St James Place panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your St James Place mortgage they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the St James Place mortgage from the register. St James Place,and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
but are not moving to another property
where the St James Place has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the St James Place has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your St James Place mortgage has been paid off.