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 provide the legal services required 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 incur legal costs to move your mortgage (on selected products).

Where our products are offered on a fees assisted basis (where a fees assisted legal transfer is included in the features of the product), LMS will manage the conveyancing service provided by one of their appointed conveyancing firms. In addition, LMS are also able to provide a low cost fee paying service for both a remortgage and purchase of your home where our product does not include the service.

No standard legal costs to remortgage

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

In certain circumstances, the solicitor/conveyancer appointed may need to conduct 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. A list of the most common fees for non-standard work can be found here.

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?

LMS work with various qualified and audited solicitors/conveyancers that will carry out the legal work required to remortgage your property.

Where a fees assisted mortgage product is selected we will instruct LMS on your behalf who will then in turn appoint a solicitor/conveyancer to complete your legal property transfer.

How long will the legal transfer process take?

Upon receipt of your mortgage application, we will instruct LMS to act on the application. On the day instructions are received, LMS will issue your welcome pack and documents online to get the process started immediately. You will be required to return documentation such as proof of identity, and upon receipt 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 in this instance of remortgaging your home to gain additional certainty, but this is not a requirement and you will incur additional legal fees.

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

If using your own solicitor/conveyancing firm, it is important to note that included in our acceptance criteria is the requirement for 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.