Our solicitor service

Newcastle Building Society has a partnership with the UK’s leading conveyancing panel management specialist Legal Marketing Services. 

Legal Marketing Services (LMS)

LMS provides a managed conveyancing service for Newcastle Building Society customers. Whether you're remortgaging or buying your first home, they can help with the legal services needed for everything to go smoothly.

For fees assisted remortgages, Newcastle Building Society will pay the basic legal fee, meaning in most cases that you will not need to pay legal costs to move your mortgage (on selected products).

If your product includes fees‑assisted legal services, LMS will arrange your conveyancing for you using one of their approved law firms.

If your product doesn’t include this service, LMS can still support you by offering a low‑cost conveyancing option for both remortgages and home purchases.

No standard legal costs to remortgage

When you remortgage to Newcastle Building Society and choose a fee assisted remortgage product, we will pay the base legal costs related to the remortgage including the basic professional fee, standard disbursements and VAT.

In certain situations, the solicitor/conveyancer chosen may need to carry out non-standard work such as Transfer of Equity, Stamp Duty, Postponement of Second and Subsequent Charges and Insurance Premiums and these costs will be payable by you. For more information see a list of the most common fees for non-standard work (PDF, 70 kB). 

Once the mortgage application has been submitted you will be contacted by the appointed solicitor/conveyancer and they will provide a full personalised illustration of any costs that will be incurred in relation to the property being remortgaged.

How does the Newcastle Building Society remortgage service work?

Where a fees assisted mortgage product is selected, we will instruct LMS on your behalf. LMS will then select a solicitor/conveyancer to complete your legal property transfer, along with any associated legal work.

How long will the legal transfer process take?

When we have your mortgage application, we will instruct LMS to act on the application. On the day LMS get the instruction, LMS will issue your welcome pack and documents online to get the process started straight away. You will need to return documentation such as proof of identity, and when LMS have this information, the appointed solicitor/conveyancer will work on your property transfer.

Can I use my own solicitor/conveyancer?

Yes you can.

In the case of a fees assisted remortgage where we include conveyancing services, the solicitor/conveyancer firm acts on the Society’s behalf and will not advise you personally. You may wish to use your own solicitor/conveyancing firm when remortgaging your home to gain more certainty, but this is not compulsory and you will be subject to additional legal fees.

In the case of a purchase or non-fees assisted remortgage, the legal work needed covers both parties’ requirements, you and the Society.

If you do choose to use your own solicitor/conveyancer, the firm you use must have multiple partners. Sole practitioners are not accepted to our panel and any request will be rejected. Where sole practitioners are instructed, they may act for you; however we will instruct LMS to act on behalf of the Society in all cases. In order to provide this service, there will be an additional charge to you and an outline of these costs can be found here.

If the proposed solicitor/conveyancer is declined, you can select any other firm currently present on the Society's conveyancing panel, including LMS appointed firms, without incurring additional Society fees, or you can select your own firm providing they meet the Society's acceptance criteria for admittance.