A number of brokers have contacted Mortgage Introducer, and the lender following its announcement that it will not accept sole practitioners. Hugh Nichols, partner at Badbury Berkeley Financial Services, said: “Kensington said it did not discriminate against sole practitioner solicitors, but it is doing exactly that. Lenders should not be able to dictate which solicitors its clients can and cannot use – they should stay out of the Law Society’s business.”
He added; “How can I give best advice if I am unable to use some solicitors, just because they are sole practitioners? Surely this goes against ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ rules?”
Nichols confirmed he had written to the lender asking it to explain its policy, following the announcement that it accepted sole practitioner solicitors.
Responding to the calls, Alex Hammond, PR manager at Kensington Mortgages, said: “It is Kensington’s policy to only accept a firm of solicitors with two or more partners registered with the Law Society. This is because we have an agreement with our funding partners, which requires we use multi-partner firms to minimise risk. Applicants may choose to use a sole practitioner or licensed conveyancer, but if they do so, Kensington will instruct a panel firm of solicitors to act on its behalf, for which the client will bear the cost.”
