Professional briefing - The Journal Online

some criticism from solicitors and
conveyancers as unnecessary and a
cause of confusion among practitioners.
The BSA understands the concerns
practitioners may have; however, in the
development of the new instructions it
has endeavoured to ensure that there is
minimal disruption.
First, there should in practice be little
confusion as to which set of instructions
should be followed. The lender, whether
a building society or not, will clearly set
out in their initial contact with the
relevant practitioners the basis that they
are being instructed upon.
Furthermore, as building societies,
and their lending subsidiaries, decide
whether and when they adopt the
BSA instructions, they should be
notifying their solicitors and
conveyancers of the change. Similarly,
those involved in the conveyancing
process, particularly those acting for
building societies, will want to check
with their lender clients whether they
will be affected and familarise
themselves with the BSA instructions.
Adoption of the BSA Mortgage
Instructions should not have any
significant impact as to how
practitioners do their job. In
preparing any new standard it is
essential that building societies, as
well as the solicitors and licensed
conveyancers instructed by them,
should be able to apply the new
instructions without substantial
changes to procedures and process.
The BSA instructions achieve this.
The BSA has also taken this
opportunity to make subtle but
important improvements in the
instructions. The BSA instructions are
of the same standard as existing
conveyancing instructions
available to lenders. However, a
benefit of the new set is their
streamlined approach.
Though existing instructions used
by the industry have, on the whole,
served lenders and conveyancers well,
over time they have grown and
developed into a labyrinth to navigate
through. The BSA instructions are
simpler, arranged in fewer sections
and with fewer sub-headings, making
the instructions more user friendly.
Individual lender SRs are also more
clearly set out, making them easier to
find and understand. The BSA has
made efforts to ensure that SRs are
presented in a uniform way and adopt
common language to help users.
The BSA has engaged with a wide
range of relevant stakeholders during
the development of these instructions.
The Law Society of Scotland and
Registers of Scotland have both been in
dialogue with the BSA as the framework
was finalised. The Royal Institute of
Chartered Surveyors has also been
consulted on issues affecting valuers.
The instructions will be supported
by guidance tools, all of which will be
available online from the BSA website.
The BSA Mortgage Instructions will
be available in full on the BSA website
from 1 January. Further information on
the instructions is available from the
BSA at www.bsa.org.uk/policy/
policyissues/mortgages/bsa_mortgage_
instructions .
Amir Ghani is policy adviser,
Mortgage Policy Team at the Building
Societies Association
Central gets its own SPC
The first new solicitors’ property
centre to be opened in Scotland
since 1994 has been set up by the
Glasgow Solicitors Property Centre
(GSPC) and a group of leading
solicitor estate agents in central
Scotland.
Central Solicitors Property Centre
(CSPC) will advertise homes for sale
across Scotland’s central belt, with a
network of participating firms with
offices in every major town including
Alloa, Bathgate, Bo’ness, Denny,
Grangemouth, Falkirk, Linlithgow
and Livingston.
Until now the area has been
www.lawscotjobs.co.uk
Already over
400 properties
are for sale on
www.central
spc.co.uk.
A property
newspaper
will follow in
January, linked
to the GSPC
property paper
fyi
The BSA Mortgage
Instructions will be
available in full on the
BSA website
www.bsa.org.uk
from 1 January
served by the Edinburgh or Glasgow
solicitors’ property centres, which
post properties for sale to each
other’s sites, but the new centre will
provide a focus on the districts
between the two cities.
Already over 400 properties are
for sale on www.centralspc.co.uk. A
property newspaper will follow in
January, linked to the GSPC property
paper.
GSPC chief executive Bill Scouller
predicted that CSPC would quickly
become the established market
leader in the central belt: “CSPC
member firms already sell more
Environmental
reports:
suggested
terms
The Professional Practice and
Conveyancing Committees have
considered whether solicitors are
under any duty to advise clients
for whom they are acting in a
purchase of residential property, in
relation to environmental matters,
and specifically as to whether an
environmental report should be
obtained. The committees’ view is
that conveyancing practitioners
are not qualified to give advice in
this connection and that they
should accordingly include a
clause in their standard terms of
business indicating that
environmental matters do not
form part of their remit.
RBS changes
delivery rules
With effect from 22 June 2009, the Royal
Bank of Scotland Group has changed its
title deeds delivery requirements for new
residential mortgages granted by its RBS,
Nat West & First Active brands. For most
cases, title deeds delivery is no longer
necessary. Full details of the new
requirements can be found in Part 2
(section 14.2) of the Lenders’ Handbook
on the CML website.
property between them in the
central belt than any of their
competitors. By co-operating to
advertise all of those properties in
one location, they create an
invaluable resource for both buyers
and sellers. As CSPC becomes an
essential source of information for
buyers on homes for sale, it will also
become an essential marketing tool
for sellers.”
Founder members of the CSPC are
Caesar & Howie, Drummond Miller,
KW Law, Liddle & Anderson, RGM
Solicitors and Estate Agents and
Russel & Aitken.
December 09 theJournal / 57