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St James Place Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Looking for information about your firm's panel status?

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How can my firm apply to be on the St James Place Conveyancing Panel?
Check your firm’s panel Status
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How can my firm be reinstated onto the St James Place Conveyancing Panel?
Check your firm’s panel Status

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

This system assists the way you can demonstrate to lender panels that you are, and can stay fully compliant with their instructions, with notifications given on St James Place’s changes. While using the tool is not a condition for being on the St James Place panel, demonstrating you can stay up to date with St James Place’s Handbook requirements is a helpful support to your application to their lender panel and, more importantly, protect your firm’s panel standing.

The system creates real-time alerts, automatically produces SRA and CQS reports, and will increase your firm's efficiency. It is also simply to use, cost-effective and, for many firms, results in reduced PII premiums.

Find a Law Firm approved by St James Place

Lenders frequently 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 UK Finance 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.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,
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Examples of recent questions relating to the St James Place Solicitor Panel from members of the public

I appointed a law firm to conveyancing on my purchase 4 weeks ago having applied for a mortgage with St James Place. The law firm reassured me that they are on St James Place conveyancing panel and provided me their panel reference. St James Place then told me that their panel number was dormant and would need to be reactivated. What do I do from here? Should I appoint a new solicitor currently on the conveyancing panel for St James Place?
The answer depends on whether you still have confidence in the said solicitors and how long it will take for the firm to be reinstated on the St James Place conveyancing panel You may wish to enlist the help of your broker to check with the St James Place as to the time frame to get your lawyer reinstated on the panel once again.
Much to my surprise my solicitor has requested from me ID documents asserting that this forms part of his obligations as a conveyancer on the St James Place Conveyancing 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 St James Place 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 St James Place CML Handbook requirements last updated on St James Place
Are there any apps to help search for a local solicitor on the St James Place conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25 kilometers to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel tool 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 uncle passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor was left the property. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to St James Place , pay off the mortgage etc. Is this allowed?
If you intend to re-mortgage then St James Place will insist on your using a conveyancer on the St James Place 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 St James Place 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 St James Place mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
is it true that all conveyancing solicitors on the St James Place conveyancing panel regulated by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the St James Place conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
I am buying a property where the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender St James Place be concerned
Given that your lender is St James Place your lawyer must to check the St James Place conveyancing instructions contained in the Part of CML Handbook for St James Place . The CML Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to St James Place where a lease does not meet these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales. Requirements for Scotland are due in the near future.
I am about to exchange contracts on a purchase with a mortgage from St James Place. The report from my solicitor mentions that St James Place could withdraw their offer before completion. Is this right?
Banks and Building Societies such as St James Place can revoke their mortgage offer although this is unusual. If St James Place withdraw their offer they may or may not inform you or the lawyer as to the reasons why. There are many potential reasons but here are a few examples:
  • If the financial circumstances of the borrower have changed to the detriment and the St James Place has been notified
  • Amendments if purchase price adjusted and the loan to value limits exceeded by this. Please note that St James Place conveyancing panel solicitors would be obliged to notify St James Place of a change in the price of the property.
  • A cashback to the buyer, or | part of the price includes a non-cash incentive to the buyer (eg paid stamp duty land tax),or | any indirect incentive (cash or non cash) or rental guarantee, of which the lender was previously unaware
  • Following advice from the valuer on their lender panel or If the lender has doubts about the effectiveness of the valuation as a result of subsequent events or information received post valuation but pre completion
  • If the lender reasonably suspects that the applicant, borrower, mortgagor or guarantor is involved in any criminal or fraudulent activity, including trading in illegal drugs or other substances, theft, robbery, deception or other serious offences, or if the applicant borrower, mortgagor or guarantor has a conviction for any serious criminal offence, including theft, deception, fraud, robbery or trade in illegal drugs or other substances;