Find a Law Firm
approved by St James Place

According to a recent survey report by the solicitors regulator three quarters of law firms had been excluded from a lender panel. The most common reasons in order are :

1. Low volume of transactions
2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction
4. regulatory contact by SRA
5. accidental removal. We are not aware of the specific or common criteria for removal by St James Place

First, rest assured that your St James Place conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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.

Whereas this was necessary 12 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 Newcastle .

You can use any solicitor you like but St James Place 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 St James Place solicitors panel

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.

Complaining to St James Place about their conveyancing panel is unlikely to yield much of a response. Every solicitor firm and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. Usually one can find this information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.

The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is addressed by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.

If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.

St James Place will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually St James Place 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. or 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 St James Place you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.