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Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Holmesdale BS list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.

Find an Approved Solicitor on the Holmesdale Building Society Conveyancing Panel

FAQs : The Holmesdale Building Society Solicitor Panel

I am progressing with the sale of my apartment and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are changing their conveyancer. The excuse is that Holmesdale Building Society will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only engage with certain law firms?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyer’s case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

Can you help?. For no fault of my lawyer but, my purchase conveyancing has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Holmesdale Building Society was date stamped random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 10 days inc Day of week eg. Mon. My solicitor informs me that as she is on the Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel she needs to redo the searches as they are no longer acceptable to the lender.
A precondition to being on the Holmesdale Building Society approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 obligations (last updated for this lender on Holmesdale Building Society)which specifies that a local authority search be not more than half a year old. You should nevertheless ask your lawyer to check whether something called ‘search validation’ indemnity insurance is acceptable to Holmesdale Building Society.
Do I have to visit the offices of the Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will appoint a lawyer who conducts conveyancing in Leeds so that I can attend their offices if necessary.
As opposed to ten years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Leeds .
I am attempting to get my former partner removed the mortgage deeds. Can Holmesdale Building Society really tell me which solicitor I can or can not retain?
You can use any solicitor you like but Holmesdale Building Society then has the right to appoint a different solicitor to act for them at your expense. It might be more cost effective and quicker to instruct a lawyer who is on the Holmesdale Building Society solicitors panel
I have a mortgage with Holmesdale Building Society. My father retired last week and wants to pay off my mortgage. After Holmesdale Building Society is paid, I want to transfer the property to my mother's name; How long will it roughly take? Do we need two separate solicitors on the Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel? I do not intend to live at the property once the Holmesdale Building Society mortgage is discharged.
You will need a solicitor but they need not be on the Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel. You will need a solicitor to draw up the transfer and to deal with the Land Registry formalities. The only thing you need to consider is that by selling at an undervalue so ask your lawyer about the implications. There could be an inheritance tax issue if you die within 7 years of this. As the property is your main residence you need not pay CGT but you should speak with your accountants in any event.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers I paid an upfront payment of 175. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me to say that they were not on the Holmesdale Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Holmesdale Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Holmesdale Building Society mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Holmesdale Building Society mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Holmesdale Building Society mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Holmesdale Building Society in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.