In her regular column for Today’s Conveyancer, Conveyancing Association director of delivery Beth Rudolf acknowledges the frustrations avoidable requisitions cause in the transaction process, but asks HM Land Registry to look at its role in reducing their impact.
I think it’s fair to say that few aspects of the conveyancing process generate as much frustration as requisitions. They add delay, increase costs, create additional work for conveyancers as well as HM Land Registry and, ultimately, can affect consumers who simply want the legal process completed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
For many years, much of the conversation has focused on what conveyancing firms can do to improve the quality of their applications and reduce avoidable requisitions. The profession has accepted that responsibility and has worked hard to strengthen processes, improve training and build greater consistency into the way applications are prepared. On top of that, HM Land Registry has provided a raft of training to help firms identify what they can do upstream to reduce avoidable requisitions. Those joint efforts are already paying dividends.
At the recent HM Land Registry Advisory Council, we heard avoidable requisitions raised have fallen by 7%. That is genuinely encouraging news and demonstrates conveyancers are responding positively by improving application quality and learning from previous issues.
However, reducing requisitions is not solely the responsibility of conveyancers. HMLR itself also has an important role to play.
Improvement should work both ways
In 2024, HMLR confirmed it had found issues with approximately one in 10 of the requisitions it was sending out. That was a significant acknowledgement, not because it shifts responsibility but because it recognises that improving the process requires every participant within it to examine where they can do better, including HMLR itself.
At the council we heard that HMLR is investigating where it may be able to exercise greater discretion on discernible issues, rather than automatically raising a requisition where the correct outcome can already be determined from the information available. We were also told these proposals will be developed further before being shared with stakeholders for consultation.
That ongoing willingness to review internal processes deserves recognition because the objective should always be the same: fewer unnecessary delays and a smoother process for everyone.
The scale of the opportunity
The importance of continuing this work becomes even clearer when viewed alongside HMLR’s own published analysis – again from a couple of years back. Using applications received between October 2023 and September 2024, it estimated more than 600,000 avoidable requisition points were raised during that period. Those avoidable requisitions were estimated to cost the profession up to £19.1 million each year, while adding an average of 15 working days to the time it takes to register.
It’s clear therefore that every unnecessary or avoidable requisition that can be eliminated has the potential to reduce costs, improve productivity and shorten transaction times for consumers.
Practical improvements remain essential
HMLR confirmed missing documents are now the leading cause of avoidable requisitions and identified five areas that firms should pay particular attention to: evidence of powers of attorney, SDLT evidence, identity verification, company incorporation evidence; and ensuring application forms contain all the required information, including addresses for service and correctly referenced plans.
That should provide conveyancing firms with a very clear focus. Members should review their case management systems, ensure prompts are in place for the documents most commonly omitted and continue investing in staff training so these avoidable issues are identified before applications are submitted.
HMLR is also progressing its own programme of improvement, including reducing the registration backlog, increasing automation, introducing customer liaison roles and developing a tiered service model designed to reduce complexity and improve the overall customer experience.
Working together to reduce delays
Conveyancers should continue improving application quality, because the profession has demonstrated that doing so delivers measurable results. At the same time, HMLR continues examining where greater consistency and discretion can be applied to reduce the number of requisitions that simply do not need to be raised.
As the CA we will continue working closely with HMLR to support that process. If the registry is continuing to see one in 10 of its own requisitions having issues, then we should all be working together to bring that figure down, just as conveyancers have successfully reduced avoidable requisitions.
That is where feedback from the profession becomes invaluable. If you receive a requisition that you genuinely believe was unnecessary, please share it with us. Real examples from firms allow us to raise those issues directly, helping to identify where processes can be improved and where greater discretion could reduce unnecessary correspondence.
By continuing to work collaboratively and constructively, I believe we can reduce delays further, improve efficiency across the profession and, most importantly, deliver a better experience for all stakeholders.
About the author
Beth Rudolf is director of delivery at The Conveyancing Association. After starting working life as an estate agent, she became a licensed conveyancer and now works with the Conveyancing Association to improve the home-moving process for the consumer.
