St James Place Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Lexsure’s COMPLETIONmonitor is web-based pre- and post-completion checklist for residential conveyancing lawyers. Supported by the CML and professional indemnity insures. COMPLETIONmonitor is a unique risk management tool.

This system facilitates the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their instructions, with alerts on St James Place’s changes. While using the tool is not a condition for acceptance on the St James Place panel, demonstrating you can stay up to date with St James Place’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your application to their lender panel 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. In addition it is user friendly, cost-effective and, for many firms, results in a PII saving.

Book a St James Place Demo for this Panel Compliance Tool

Banks and building societies frequently change 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, over time:

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.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

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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
6.14.1c 01/12/2014 CML
buildings insurance total sum insured calculation
6.14.1d 01/12/2014 CML
maximum excess re building insurance
6.14.2 01/12/2014 CML
requirement that all insurance risks are included
6.14.3 01/12/2014 CML
notification of non-renewal/cancellation for buildings insurance policy
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?
4.1 01/12/2010 CML
Mortage valuation
Do St James Place Bank arrange for there to be a valuation report and if so, do they provide it to their approved lawyers ?
5.5.1a 01/12/2010 CML
requirements in terms of time for planning consents
5.5.1b 01/12/2010 CML
conveyancing requirements in terms of time for building regulation consents
6.3.1 03/07/2009 CML
contact point for any issues relating to purchase price

Last update 13/11/2018

St James Place Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public

My fiance and I are purchasing a 1 bedroom apartment in London with a mortgage from St James Place. We have a solicitor but St James Place says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the St James Place panel firms or keep our solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. 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
I am buying a newly built flat and my lawyer is telling me that she is duty bound to reveal incentives from the developer as her firm is on the St James Place conveyancing panel. I am on a tight deadline to sign contracts and my preference is not to delay matters. 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.
Your search tool is useful but there are many lawyers listed near Leeds on the St James Place conveyancing panel. It would be a lot more helpful if you could recommend a specific firm on the conveyancing panel for St James Place ?
We are not in the business of recommending one firm above another as the right firm for you depends on where your priorities lie. For example you may require a local firm with local knowledge or you might be looking for the low cost conveyancing. We recommend that you speak to 3 or 4 lawyers listed before you make your choice..
We're in London, First time buyers buying with a mortgage (lender is St James Place , but our lawyer is on the St James Place conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the St James Place conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
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 Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
My wife and I have arranged a further advance on our mortgage from St James Place as we wish to carry out a loft conversion to our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the St James Place conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
St James Place would not normally instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers 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 St James Place panel
We expect to receive a DIP from St James Place this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (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 find our own lawyer
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.