Conveyancers have taken to social media to lambast Nationwide Building Society over revisions to their UK Finance Handbook instructions.
In the days after the UK’s largest building society welcomed plans to modernise the home moving process, the revisions have been described as moving the goalposts as it introduces new rules requiring a deed of variation if the lease doesn’t include a Mortgagee Protection Clause amongst other amends to its Part II requirements.
Writing on LinkedIn one frustrated conveyancer described Nationwide as ‘slowly becoming everyone’s least favourite lender’ adding ‘lenders can already rely on the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR 55.1 and 55.2) for protection in possession proceedings… MPC is nice and helpful but their absence doesn’t leave the lender completely exposed!!’pointing to existing provisions under
- CPR 55.11 – Mortgagee’s Right to be Notified
- If possession proceedings are issued by a landlord against a leaseholder, any mortgagee (lender with a registered charge) must be served with notice of the claim. This ensures that the lender is aware of any risk to their security and can take appropriate action.
- CPR 55.12 – Mortgagee’s Right to Apply for Relief from Forfeiture
- Once notified, the lender has the right to apply to the court for relief from forfeiture, allowing them to step in and preserve their security interest, even if the leaseholder has breached the lease terms
Another spotted updated requirements to report when there has been a breach of a restrictive covenant (clause 5.10.1.), adding
There is no mention of any time limits so does this mean we have to report all breaches irrespective of when the breach occurred 🤦🏻♀️
Also we need to give our professional judgement, advice and recommendations. Another hat to add to our already long list!
And people wonder why the house buying process takes so long. And digitalisation is supposed to speed everything up.
Ahead of the 31st March 2025 when conveyancers are already under pressure to complete ahead of changes to the nil rate band, these changes have caused consternation with many taking to social media to raise concerns about further delays, frustrated buyers and sellers and more administration for firms. How many Nationwide customers are going to be out of pocket, asked one post, when the SDLT rate changes on 1st April 2025 while conveyancers scramble to comply with these further requirements. Another suggested ‘no amount of technology or modernisation will fix inconsistent lender requirements, slow freeholders, management company delays or outdated lease terms that then suddenly become an issue because a lender has moved its goalpost.’
Today’s Conveyancer has contacted Nationwide for comment.
One Response
This is getting absolutely ridiculous. Those who raised the ‘issue’ of the MPC in their articles need a lesson in how these matters work. I know it is the ‘done thing’ to write articles for the benefit of clicks and website traffic but it is incredibly dangerous unless you know the law inside out and you have taken professional litigation/barrister opinion. It is clear that those writing the articles have not and the lender have jumped on this. Now that they have done that, we are getting standard questions in most leasehold transactions of requiring a MPC. There is a reason that they were not put in place in the thousand’s of leases granted over all of these years; they are not required!
Appreciate that shared ownership is different.
As for the restrictive covenant matter, what an absolute joke.
It is about time the Law Society/SRA/CLC/Lexcel/CQS came down on hard on mortgage lenders and frankly insisted that there is one standard BSA/CML part 1 and one standard set of part 2’s and all changes to the part 2 must be published free of charge and all versions freely available. It would no doubt speed up conveyancing, reduce costs, reduce risks and reduce litigation matters.
The likes of Nationwide need to take a lesson and legal opinion from those actually in the know.
Appalled and disgusted by this.