Helping Conveyancers to get applications right first time - HM Land Registry

Insight

4 minutes

19 January 2026

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Guest article written by Chloe Morgan, HM Land Registry

How HM Land Registry is supporting professionals to reduce avoidable requisitions

Submitting a complete and accurate application first time helps everyone. It means faster processing, fewer delays, lower costs and a better experience for your clients. That is why HMLR is continuing to invest in practical support, clearer insight and free training to help professional firms reduce avoidable requisitions.

As part of this commitment, HM Land Registry is now publishing avoidable requisitions data on GOV.UK. This data is designed to help firms find where common errors are occurring and what steps they can take to improve the quality of their applications.

What are avoidable requisitions?

Avoidable requisitions are requests for information raised during application processing where, usually, the issue could easily have been avoided. These include things like name discrepancies, incomplete forms, or missing evidence.

Why does this data matters to you?

By publishing this information, HM Land Registry is giving firms greater visibility of their performance and the opportunity to discover where easily corrected errors may be adding delays to their work.

Since HM Land Registry began sharing additional guidance and resources in May 2025, there are encouraging signs:

  • 29% of professional firms have reduced their avoidable requisition rates
  • 57% now have rates below 5%
  • 1 in 5 firms are achieving rates under 1%, up from 17% last year

While this progress is positive, HM Land Registry recognises that some firms are still experiencing higher rates and remains focused on supporting further improvement.

You can find a copy of the data here: Request for information (avoidable requisition) data - Use land and property data

Requisitions – a professional indemnity lens

Scott Thorne, Associate Director at Howden agrees:

Howden recognises that, for law firms and licensed conveyancers, reducing avoidable requisitions isn’t just about efficiency, it’s a key risk-management strategy. Every requisition represents a potential delay, and delays can lead to client dissatisfaction, transaction failures, and claims against your firm.

From a professional indemnity insurance (PII) perspective, these risks are significant. Missed deadlines or incomplete submissions can often escalate into allegations that could impact not only your firm’s reputation, but also its regulatory standing. High avoidable requisition rates often signal poor process control, attracting scrutiny and increasing the likelihood of client complaints and financial losses.

Lowering your requisition rate can help strengthen your firm’s risk profile and even help influence your PII premiums. Robust processes and training demonstrate proactive risk mitigation to insurers and of course fewer errors mean fewer claims.

Taking practical steps such as auditing requisition data to identify patterns and leveraging digital submission checks to reduce human error will not only protect your firm against claims, but also enhance client confidence, positioning your firm as reliable and well managed in the eyes of both your clients and insurers.

Working together for better outcomes

Avoidable requisitions are not about blame. They are about identifying where small changes can make a big difference. By sharing data, improving transparency and offering free, practical support, HM Land Registry is working in partnership with firms like yours to improve application quality and speed up registration.

You can also visit the HMLR training hub by scanning the QR code below:

HMLR Training Hub

Chloe Morgan, HM Land Registry

Chloe Morgan

Customer Training Executive
HM Land Registry Customer Engagement & Development

[email protected]

This article has been written by Chloe Morgan, HM Land Registry and the opinions and views stated in this article are those of the HM Land Registry and not Howden Insurance Brokers Limited (“Howden”). Howden is an insurance broker and is not authorised or regulated to advise on reducing avoidable requisitions. Howden shall not (i) owe or accept any duty, responsibility or liability to you or any other person; and (ii) be liable in respect of any loss, damage or expense caused by your or any other party’s reliance on this article.