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approved by Chelsea BS
Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Chelsea BS list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
Find an Approved Solicitor on the Chelsea Building Society (a trading name of Yorkshire BS) Conveyancing Panel
Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers
My partner and I are novices when it comes to buying a property. Within the 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Chelsea Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyers should contact Chelsea Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Chelsea Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
can you help? My solicitor is informing me me that she is duty-bound to order a Local Authority search because the firm are on the Chelsea Building Society approved lawyer panel. Is this really necessary?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are taking a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Chelsea Building Society’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Chelsea Building Society. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
I require the services of a Chelsea Building Society panel solicitor in Stirling. Can you assist?
It is not clear why you need a Chelsea Building Society panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Chelsea Building Society to find out which solicitors in Chelsea Building Society are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is removed from the Chelsea Building Society Conveyancing panel before completion?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
Is it the case that all conveyancing solicitors on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel regulated by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Chelsea Building Society 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).
Hi, thinking about buying a house off my mate. Once we agree a price, what’s the best way to move forward? I hope to get a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society. Is it possible to avoid using solicitors to save us both money? My dad reckons back in the day he did a lot of it himself, just went into the land registry office and providing them with the info they needed himself
If you are getting a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society involved you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel. We would not encourage you to both use the same solicitors' firm. There are clear conflict of interest issues and it's not going to make a huge difference to the speed of the overall process. So as not to hold things us you should pass on your solicitors details to Chelsea Building Society. Feel free to use our search tool to look for a licensed conveyancer or solicitor on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a solicitor having checked that they are on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
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Having digested plenty of mortgage guides,I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my solicitor - who is on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Chelsea Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Chelsea Building Society will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey.
You may wish to consider appointing your own surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
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Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.