Santander has become the first lender to make membership of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme mandatory for firms applying to be on its conveyancing panel.

The bank reopened its panel to new members in August, with the introduction of a £199 application fee.

A Santander spokesman confirmed that CQS would be a requirement for new firms applying to join the panel, but said the accreditation mark alone will not guarantee a place.

Firms already on Santander’s conveyancing panel will not need to be CQS-accredited, but from now on they will have to pay £99 for annual compliance checks.

Law Society chief executive Des Hudson said: ‘The Society is pleased that Santander is using CQS in this way. It is a sensible step and we applaud Santander’s decision to take the first steps in this regard.’

He said the move was a ‘solid acknowledgement’ that the scheme recognises high standards in conveyancing.

However, Hudson added that he was ‘deeply disappointed’ that the lender will charge for admission to its panel.

Since its launch in January, some 1,300 applications have been made for CQS membership and 589 applicants have been accredited.

A spokeswoman for Lloyds Banking Group said it is ‘very supportive’ of the scheme and takes it into account when reviewing new applications, but given the small numbers who are currently CQS-accredited compared with the size of its panel, membership is not mandatory.

Andrew Baddeley-Chappell, head of mortgage strategy and policy at Nationwide, said it is ‘fully supportive’ of CQS and encourages all firms who support the highest standards in conveyancing to sign up to it.

While CQS membership is not yet a prerequisite of Nationwide panel membership, Baddeley-Chappell said he could see it becoming so in future.