HM Land Registry has said it will share data on the number of ‘avoidable requisitions’ within law firms, which it says will increase the quality and speed of service it offers. The organisation will also offer free training to ‘help law firms get applications right first time’.
The data – available from the autumn – will give firms the percentage of the requisitions that could have been avoided before the application was submitted, which HMRL says is between 0% and 24% per firm. The move is in response to customer feedback, HMLR says, and is backed ‘by trade bodies and industry’.
HMLR said in a statement:
“Every year, HM Land Registry sends around 800,000 requests for more information or clarification to applicants, a significant proportion of which could readily be avoided before sending the application.
“HM Land Registry is sending new data to customers on the percentage of applications that contain these readily avoidable ‘requisitions’, such as name discrepancies, missing documents and witness details.”
The changes follow a recent announcement that HMLR would introduce an enhanced checking service to help reduce administrative errors. Requisitions cost the sector an estimated £19 million a year, according to HMLR, which it says leads to delayed processing times.
Ahead of the publication of the requisition data, HMLR says it has revamped its training hub to include new guidance on tackling avoidable requisitions, which it defines as ‘errors and omissions in an application that are readily avoided through care and attention’.
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC), which has been a long-time advocate of the release of requisition data by HMLR to all its members, said it ‘warmly welcomes’ the move. ‘Whilst HMLR has been providing data to large conveyancing firms for quite some time, medium and smaller firms have been operating at a disadvantage by not having this data available to them’, the SLC said in a statement.
“In November 2024, SLC issued a blog that majored on the cost savings available to all conveyancers by getting post completion work ‘right first time’ thus avoiding unnecessary requisitions. However, without meaningful and valuable data from HMLR, many firms would struggle to identify the main areas of focus to improve their submissions. The news that all firms that have lodged ten or more registration applications in the preceding six months will receive requisition data will prove invaluable to firms and HMLR in reducing avoidable requisitions.”
Simon Law, chair of the SLC, added:
“Providing all conveyancing firms with requisition data not only levels the playing field between large and smaller firms, but it also means that smaller firms can focus on those issues that are behind unnecessary requisitions in their practices and reduce these through improved processes and training. This will save them money and make them more efficient in serving their clients.
“Ultimately it is about a systemic improvement across the whole profession that will enable HMLR to enhance its focus on reducing its long standing registration backlogs to the benefit of all conveyancing firms, and ultimately (and most importantly) home buyers and sellers.”
Sheila Kumar, chief executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, said although many firms ‘do a great job’ there is scope for improvement, and encouraged conveyancers to take advantage of the data and training on offer.
She commented:
“Good quality title applications are the culmination of the conveyancing process and are the final, vital step to ensure that the interests of buyers and lenders are protected, so this is an area of focus for the CLC.
“Many conveyancing practices are doing a great job and we have seen others make recent progress too, so we know there is scope for practices that are not performing as well to improve. We are already using data from HM Land Registry as part of our risk profiling of individual practices and we expect conveyancers to make use of this data and the training available from HM Land Registry to improve their services.”
Paul Philip, chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, said publishing the data will offer better choice for consumers. ‘The public need easy-to-access relevant information to help them shop around for legal services’, he said.
“The more useful and accurate information that is available, across a range of potential indicators on quality or cost, the better for consumers to be able to choose the right service for them.”
Last month, chief executive Simon Hayes said HMLR was making ‘real headway’ in improving the speed of registration and promised to implement further improvements. Matthew Pennycook, the minister of state for housing, communities and local government, also reiterated HMLR’s commitment to reduce waiting times and said a combination of 3300 new staff and enhanced digital services would continue to drive down delays.
Although some conveyancers have claimed that they have seen no improvement, with comments that the service ‘has significantly got worse’, and ‘I certainly have applications over 12 months which I have just checked and [are] waiting processing’, HMLR said it works closely with customers to minimise delays and ensure transactions are not at risk.
A spokesperson added:
“We set a goal that, by March 2025, we would be processing 95% of applications within 12 months of their submission. We surpassed that goal – the waiting time for 95% of each application type improved considerably, decreasing from 17.6 months to 11.9 months during 2024/25.
“This reflects the impact of working more closely with customers and our sustained investment in our people, technology and processes.
“Whilst a very small proportion of applications (around 2% of our work) are taking longer to process than we would like, we can expedite (fast-track) applications free of charge if a delay would cause legal, financial, or personal problems or put a property transaction at risk.”
