Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS): Why Your Solicitor Needs It

The Law Society set up its Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accreditation to indicate, for customers wishing to instruct conveyancing solicitors, those practices which it considers offer the highest standards in this legal area. The idea behind CQS is to provide greater reassurance to everyone involved in the conveyancing process, confirming that the solicitor providing the service can deliver the appropriate quality of service and level of insurance.

Looking for the best solicitors for your conveyancing needs? This article explains what the Conveyancing Quality Scheme is, what mortgage lenders require for accreditation, and what firms must do to obtain it.

What is The Law Society?

The Law Society was once both regulator and solicitor manager for solicitors in England & Wales; however, it now represents and promotes solicitors, leaving the Solicitor Regulatory Authority (SRA) to oversee all regulatory and compliance issues for the delivery of legal services by solicitors.

Does your mortgage lender require a CQS solicitor?

Most mortgage lenders require CQS accreditation to be mandatory before any firm can join their panel of solicitors. If they're not CQS-accredited, mortgage lenders may refuse to work with them. Here are some of the biggest mortgage lenders in the country, and whether they require CQS accreditation or not.

Falling conveyancing standards

Prior to the establishment of the CQS accreditation, the Law Society had received many complaints about the quality of service delivered by solicitors offering conveyancing. It is well understood that hold-ups and failures during a house move can be very stressful for customers and can also cause financial loss. The Law Society brought CQS in to give the public reassurance of an agreed standard of service that they’ll receive from a solicitor with this accreditation.

The CQS service levels

In order for a solicitor to attain accreditation, they must pass a rigorous test by The Law Society for Probity and Quality.

Probity (makes up 75% of the pass rate)

The section on Probity will comprise three sub-sections: The Practice, the Partners and other Staff at the firm, and Consistency of answers in the preceding two sub-sections.

• The Practice: This sub-section on the practice will examine the firm's longevity and stability, its financial position, its policies and processes, and its ability to obtain PI insurance.

• The Partners and all Relevant Members of Staff: This sub-section will verify the identity of and examine the professional record of the Senior Responsible Officer, including his CPD record, and the information he provides about other partners and all Relevant Members of Staff within the firm.

• Consistency: This sub-section will be used to cross-reference information supplied on the application form with other information, either public or otherwise. For example, the disciplinary record of the partners and Relevant Members of Staff will be checked against the SRA regulatory decisions pages.

Quality (makes up 25% of the pass rate)

• The Practice: This sub-section will look at the processes and procedures for the four Core Practice Standards in relation to conveyancing. It is clear that the CQS mark ensures the conveyancing solicitor has the right people to provide the service and safe processes and procedures to deliver it.

Why UK Mortgage Lenders Demand CQS Accredited Conveyancers

More and more, mortgage lenders are requesting that their chosen solicitor to act for them be a CQS solicitor. This is making it harder for some of the smaller non-accredited solicitor practices to act for buyers on a property transaction if they choose a mortgage lender that requires the CQS.