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. It is a unique risk mitigation tool.

This software facilitates the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their instructions, with notifications given on St James Place’s changes. Notwithstanding that utilising COMPLETIONmonitor 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 an excellent support to your application to their lender panel and, more importantly, protect your firm’s panel status.

The software 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 many firms, leads to a PII saving.

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Mortgage companies 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
3.1.6 01/12/2014 CML
verification of identity
5.5.1a 01/12/2014 CML
requirements in terms of time for planning 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
6.14.2 01/12/2014 CML
requirement that all insurance risks are included
3.1.5 01/12/2014 CML
ID Documentation
St James Place Bank panel lawyers requirements re ID Documentation: Further acceptable documents (if any)
5.5.1b 01/12/2010 CML
conveyancing requirements in terms of time for building regulation consents
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
5.10.1 27/11/2009 CML
contact point for restrictions on use
5.1.1 03/07/2009 CML
Properties owned for less than 6 months
Contact details at St James Place Bank for approved lawyers where there is a restriction on use.

Last update 22/01/2020

Common questions asked concerning the St James Place Solicitor Panel from members of the public

I have been advised by my broker that I have to pay St James Place fees should I instruct my family lawyer. How good are the St James Place conveyancing panel solicitors? I dont care which law firm I use provided that they are good and not exorbitantly priced. Are there any St James Place conveyancers you'd recommend?
St James Place’s conveyancing panel is substantial so your best bet is just to check with the firms you are getting quotes from that they are on the panel. You can search by postcode on the search tool on this site to find solicitors that St James Place will allow to act for them.
My partner and I intend to remortgage our apartment 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 any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the St James Place conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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.

Do banks and building societies provide you with an approved list of solicitors? How do you know who is on the St James Place conveyancing panel?
The law firm practices themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the St James Place conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from St James Place directly.
I am purchasing a right to buy flat and getting a mortgage with St James Place. How practical is it for me to do the conveyancing?
Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing you will have to appoint a solicitor on the St James Place conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to made in you doing to conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on the St James Place conveyancing panel in your location.
Are all Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the St James Place conveyancing panel?
Some major banks and building societies now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives 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 have agreed to purchase a house.One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. St James Place have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
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. The CML are developing guidance for Northern Ireland and Scotland.
I have had an offer accepted on a flat I spoke to a conveyancer previously used by my brother and he advised retaining a solicitor approved by St James Place. The estate agent recommended two local firms so I asked St James Place if the 2 suggested solicitors are approved, which they are not. St James Place pointed out that either firm can fill out the appropriate forms to become approved. Do I (1) save myself the aggravation and use one of St James Place 's conveyancing panel solicitors (2) Use the local solicitor and accept there may be delays etc as they go through the approval process.
Enquire of St James Place for conveyancing panel firms in your area. Lenders have them all over the country. You can also use our search tool at the top of this page to search for a lawyer on the St James Place conveyancing panel based on location. If you particularly like the sound of one of the local lawyers that you have spoken to ask them if they would go onto St James Place conveyancing panel as it may only take about 2-3 weeks. As long as they meet St James Place’s requirements it can be a very simple job for the solicitor. Other stuff will be going on in parallel (as you are at an early stage) so it may not delay matters.