The proposed charge applied to guidance that had previously been provided free of charge and is widely regarded as essential to the conveyancing process

UK Finance has reversed its decision to introduce a charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook following widespread criticism from industry bodies.

Under the proposals, conveyancers would have been required from 1 June 2026 to pay £50 plus VAT per user to register and access the handbook. The proposed charge applied to guidance that had previously been provided free of charge and is widely regarded as essential to the conveyancing process.

UK Finance’s decision to drop their proposal to charge conveyancers for accessing the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook has been broadly welcomed by the industry.

Following further engagement with our members and users of the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook, we have decided to retain the current approach of providing free access for conveyancers for the foreseeable future. We are continuing the work to launch the new and improved handbook in early March as planned, the trade association for the banking and financial sector said in a statement on Friday.

On Friday, the organisation confirmed the feedback it had received had resulted in a ‘recalibration’ of the proposed charging structure.

The Law Society of England and Wales quickly commended UK Finance for engaging with its members and acting swiftly. We are delighted that UK Finance has listened to the concerns of the Law Society and other UK law societies and decided to drop their proposal to charge conveyancers a fee to use the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook for the foreseeable future, Law Society president Mark Evans said.

We commend UK Finance for reacting swiftly to the strength of opposition against the proposal to introduce a charge, including from the Law Society on behalf of our members, he said.

He added: We will now work with UK Finance to support conveyancers as the new system is implemented on 2 March.