A mortgage agreement in principle from Skipton Building Society does not confirm that your chosen conveyancer can also act for the lender. Check the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel before paying money on account or allowing substantial legal work to begin.
Borrowers remain free to choose their own solicitor or licensed conveyancer. However, Skipton Building Society requires its own interests to be represented by a firm admitted to its panel. If the borrower’s chosen firm is not admitted, another conveyancer may need to act for the Society and the borrower can become responsible for both firms’ charges.
That creates a preventable risk of additional cost, duplicated work and delay.
Check the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel
Search by postcode or town for regulated firms covering your area. A directory search should be followed by direct confirmation from the conveyancer that the relevant office and regulated entity can currently act for Skipton Building Society on your particular transaction.
Why panel membership matters
On most mortgaged purchases and remortgages, the same conveyancing firm represents both the borrower and the lender. The firm investigates the property for the buyer while also checking the title, reporting specified issues and providing the certificate required before the lender releases its mortgage advance.
This joint representation arrangement usually allows the legal work to proceed through one firm. If the borrower’s conveyancer cannot represent Skipton Building Society, a second firm may have to review the lender aspects of the transaction.
The borrower may then face:
- legal fees charged by two conveyancing firms
- additional enquiries between the firms
- duplicated checks and documentation
- longer communication chains
- a possible delay to exchange or completion
Being absent from the panel does not mean a conveyancer is unregulated or provides poor work. It means the firm is not currently authorised to represent Skipton Building Society in the relevant mortgage transaction.
Panel status should be checked for this transaction
A firm may have acted for Skipton Building Society in the past without remaining on the panel today.
Skipton Building Society states that it may suspend or remove a firm following a disciplinary tribunal decision. It also reserves the right to remove a firm where it has not acted for the Society on the grant of a mortgage for more than one year.
This makes a current confirmation particularly important. A conveyancer’s recollection of acting for Skipton on an earlier matter is not the same as confirming current panel membership.
Ask the firm to confirm:
- the full name of the regulated legal entity that will act
- whether the particular office is covered by its Skipton panel appointment
- whether it can act for both you and Skipton Building Society
- whether any separate representation or additional lender fee will apply
- whether it has received the lender’s instructions and mortgage offer
Can your conveyancer apply to join the panel?
Skipton Building Society permits eligible firms to apply for panel membership through LMS. The Society currently says that joining the panel is free, although LMS charges the firm a transaction management fee for each mortgage completion.
An application is not the same as an approval. Skipton reserves the right to refuse admission, and the time needed for an application may not fit the timetable of an existing purchase.
If your preferred conveyancer is not admitted, ask three questions before deciding what to do:
- Is the firm willing and eligible to apply?
- How long is the application realistically expected to take?
- Would changing to an existing panel firm be quicker and less expensive than using two firms?
Do not allow an uncertain panel application to drift towards an agreed exchange or completion date without a workable alternative.
Free standard legal services on a remortgage
A Skipton remortgage product may include a free standard legal service. In that situation, Skipton appoints a conveyancer to act for the Society and covers the standard legal work described by the product.
“Free legal service” does not necessarily mean that every piece of work connected with the remortgage is free. Additional work may fall outside the standard service. Skipton gives the examples of a transfer of equity and redemption of a Help to Buy Equity Loan.
If additional work is required, the borrower may instruct their own conveyancer or ask the appointed conveyancer to act independently for them. The borrower is responsible for the additional costs.
Before proceeding, establish:
- what the standard legal service includes
- which work is treated as additional
- whether the appointed firm can undertake that work
- what fees and disbursements the borrower must pay
Panel approval does not mean automatic mortgage approval
For leasehold purchases and remortgages, the ground rent provisions require separate consideration. See our analysis of Skipton Building Society’s October 2026 ground rent requirements.
A firm’s presence on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel means that it can work with the lender’s instructions. It does not mean every property or title issue will be acceptable.
The conveyancer must still consider the mortgage offer, the applicable lender instructions, the valuation and the legal documents. If the title or other information conflicts with an assumption made by the valuer, the issue may need to be reported to Skipton before exchange or completion.
An earlier About Conveyancing article examined a Skipton handbook change concerning the valuation and title documents. Although that article records a historic requirement, the underlying risk remains relevant. A conveyancer must not assume that silence or missing material removes the obligation to compare the lender’s valuation assumptions with the legal position.
Building safety can affect the lender and the buyer differently
Flats affected by cladding, external wall concerns or the Building Safety Act illustrate why a panel solicitor does more than confirm that documents exist.
Our earlier article on Skipton Building Society’s building safety requirements recorded detailed reporting and borrower advice obligations. The firm may need to establish what information is available, whether the lender’s assumptions remain correct and whether further instructions are required before the transaction proceeds.
The borrower also needs advice about the effect of the issue on ownership, potential financial liabilities and a future sale. Lender approval alone is not a substitute for advice to the client.
If cladding or missing building safety information was not properly explained on an earlier purchase, the problem may only emerge during a later sale or remortgage. The When I Bought guide to cladding, EWS1 and building safety problems explains the distinction between what a lender required and what the purchaser should have understood.
The certificate of title and completion timetable
Skipton Building Society currently asks panel conveyancers to submit the certificate of title electronically through the LMS service. It requests seven business days’ notice from submission of the certificate to completion.
If the requested notice cannot be given, Skipton says it will endeavour to review the certificate but does not guarantee that the mortgage advance will be released on the requested date.
This makes last minute panel and lender instruction problems particularly dangerous. A buyer should not commit to a completion date on the assumption that the mortgage money can be released immediately after a late certificate is submitted.
Where funds are requested one business day before a purchase completes, the borrower should also understand that interest may be charged from the date on which the money is released.
What if your conveyancer is not on the panel?
There may be several possible routes:
- change to a firm already on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel
- retain your chosen conveyancer while a separate panel firm represents Skipton
- ask whether your chosen firm can apply for admission within the available time
The best option depends on how much work has already been done, the fees incurred, the length of the chain and the proposed exchange and completion dates.
If two firms become involved, obtain a written explanation of their respective roles, the additional costs and the information each requires. Do not assume that appointing the second firm is an administrative formality.
Current panel status and historical requirements answer different questions
A panel search answers a present question: which firms can work with Skipton Building Society instructions on a mortgage now?
It cannot establish what Skipton required on a transaction that completed years ago. Where a title or property problem is discovered during a later sale, remortgage or complaint, the relevant lender instruction is normally the one recorded at the original completion date.
The Lexsure Lender Archive record for Skipton Building Society provides a separate route for investigating historical requirements. It should not be confused with checking whether a firm is currently on the panel.
Check before you instruct
A five minute panel check can prevent the late discovery that another firm must become involved. Search for firms covering your area, compare several options and obtain direct confirmation of current Skipton Building Society panel status.
Find a lawyer on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel
Frequently asked questions
Can I use any solicitor with a Skipton Building Society mortgage?
You may choose your own solicitor, but Skipton’s interests must be represented by a firm on its panel. If your chosen firm is not admitted, the Society may appoint another conveyancer and you may have to pay both firms.
Does CQS accreditation guarantee Skipton panel membership?
No. Accreditation and lender panel membership are different. Ask the firm to confirm that the relevant regulated entity and office can currently act for Skipton Building Society.
Does a firm missing from the directory mean it is not on the panel?
Not necessarily. Directory information should be treated as a search aid and checked directly with the conveyancing firm. Ask for written confirmation relating to your particular transaction.
Can a firm be removed because it has not handled enough Skipton work?
Skipton states that it may remove a firm where the firm has not acted for it in granting a mortgage for more than one year. This is one reason why current status should be confirmed rather than inferred from an old transaction.
How much notice does Skipton request before completion?
Skipton’s current conveyancer information asks for seven business days’ notice from submission of the certificate of title to completion. The current requirement should be checked on the individual matter.
This article provides general information rather than legal, mortgage or financial advice. Panel arrangements, completion procedures and lender requirements can change. Check the current position with Skipton Building Society, your mortgage broker and your conveyancer before relying on it. LenderPanel.com is an independent directory and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Skipton Building Society.