Avoidable requisitions fell by nearly 50% from 2022 to 2025 according to analysis by HM Land Registry.
Writing in Today’s Conveyancer, Andrew Robertson, head of customer policy at the agency said the overall number of avoidable requisition points, such as missing, unclear or inconsistent information, fell from 839,000 in 2022 to 439,000 in 2025, a 47.7% reduction in the number of points.
HMLR said even accounting for fluctuations in volumes the rate fell by 39.1%, a trend continuing into 2026.
In 2024 HMLR estimated requisitions were costing the conveyancing profession as much at £19 million annually. Using published sector pay rates and an estimate of the staff time involved, HMLR said an indicative cost of each error was up to £31.42. On the basis of the same assumptions, the 400,000 fewer requisitions saved conveyancers £12 million in 2025 suggested HMLR.
Earlier this year the agency published figures which showed fully avoidable requisitions make up nearly 5% of all applications in the six months from October 2025 to March 2026 and revealed there were 78,894 fully avoidable requisitions amongst the 1.6 million submitted – an overall avoidable requisition rate of 4.9%.
Welcoming the progress HMLR thanked “conveyancers, post-completion teams, industry bodies and HM Land Registry (HMLR) caseworkers for the time, care and commitment that have made this possible.”
Robertson added there was no “single reason for the fall.” Rather better use of data, stronger checks before submission and more targeted training and support all contributed to the improvement.
In acknowledging their own role in improving the rates, HMLR said it was now flagging fewer unnecessary requisitions, with internal data showing a fall from 12% of checked cases in 2022/23, to 10% in 2024/25 and 8% in 2025/26.
“This suggests that internal checks, guidance and learning are helping caseworkers raise the right requisitions more consistently” said Robertson.
Ther regulator said post-completion is an area of “close scrutiny” with conveyancers expected to treat the accuracy of their post completion applications as a “core professional responsibility” with regulatory consequences for persistent failure.
Stephen Ward, Deputy Chief Executive, Council for Licensed Conveyancers, said: “It is good to see avoidable requisition rates coming down through work that is going on across the sector. The publication of data on avoidable requisitions is proving to be just as constructive as we had hoped, helping conveyancers to understand what is working and where further progress can be made.
“We encourage conveyancers to use the data, make use of available training, talk about the issues and learn from each other. The CLC will continue to work closely with conveyancers to maintain this progress and protect clients and mortgage lenders.”
HMLR continue to provide free webinars, videos and learning resources on HM Land Registry’s training hub to support with preventing common errors.
