Can Fewer Land Registry Requisitions Make UK Property Purchases Smoother?

Key takeaways

• Annual avoidable requisition points fell 47.7% from 2022 to 2025.
• The adjusted rate fell 39.1% over the same wider-analysis period.
• The January-September 2026 rate was 94 points per 1,000 applications.

HM Land Registry has published its third avoidable requisitions dataset, with the government release showing continued progress in reducing preventable registration delays for property transactions. The dataset covers 1 April to 30 September 2026 and gives conveyancers and law firms updated information for reviewing application quality, checks, training and quality assurance.

"Reducing avoidable requisitions is a shared achievement." — Andrew Robertson, Head of Customer Policy at HM Land Registry

The figures

In the registry’s wider analysis, annual avoidable requisition points decreased by 47.7%, from about 839,000 in 2022 to 439,000 in 2025. The number recorded for 2025 was approximately 400,000 points below the 2022 total. Once the analysis allowed for shifts in application volumes, the rate had dropped 39.1%, which indicates that fewer applications alone do not explain the improvement.

The period from January through September 2026 continued the positive trend. Around 94 avoidable points were raised per 1,000 applications, an 11% reduction compared with 2025. HM Land Registry set out the 2022–2026 trend in wider analysis published through its October 2026 blogs; the figures are neither a comparison among the three datasets nor specific to the third release.

The figures count points rather than individual applications or requisition letters. Because a single requisition may carry several points, the rate of 94 points for every 1,000 applications should not be interpreted as 9.4% of applications attracting an avoidable requisition, HM Land Registry’s government release states.

The timeline

1. 2022 – Annual avoidable requisition points stood at around 839,000, the baseline for HM Land Registry’s wider analysis.

1. 2025 – Annual avoidable requisition points fell to around 439,000, a 47.7% reduction from 2022. The adjusted rate fell by 39.1% over the same wider-analysis period.

1. 1 April–30 September 2026 – The third avoidable requisitions dataset covered this period, with around 94 avoidable requisition points raised per 1,000 applications. The rate was 11% lower than in 2025.

1. October 2026 – HM Land Registry published wider analysis covering the 2022–2026 trend in avoidable requisition points.

1. 3 November 2026 – HM Land Registry published its third avoidable requisitions dataset to help conveyancers and law firms review application quality, checks, training and quality assurance.

What causes delays

Before an application can be completed, the registry may issue a requisition seeking further information or action. Errors or omissions that could generally have been caught before an application was submitted are treated as avoidable points, including absent identity evidence, inconsistent names, plans that lack clarity and absent supporting paperwork.

The registry identifies missing or unclear information as the leading broad category of avoidable requisition at present. Among individual avoidable points, the most frequently recorded is the failure to provide identity evidence. These issues can create extra work for conveyancers and post-completion teams and delay registration.

According to the registry, conveyancers, post-completion teams, industry bodies and HM Land Registry have jointly contributed to the progress. It also says preventable issues still cause unnecessary work, even as the overall trend has improved since 2022.

Checks ahead

Andrew Robertson said the third dataset gives firms an opportunity to build on progress (Mortgage Solutions). He advised firms to pinpoint recurring issues and concentrate their checks and training where they can have the most impact, while the registry continues improving its guidance and services and the consistency of the requisitions it raises.

HM Land Registry wants firms to review why particular requisitions occurred and apply those findings to stronger checks before applications are submitted. The registry offers no-cost guidance, workshops and training resources, while also continuing internal work to make requisitions more accurate and consistent.

The latest published rate was 94 avoidable requisition points per 1,000 applications between January and September 2026.

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Sources

• Land Registry requisitions fall as efforts to cut property delays continue — mortgagesolutions.co.uk, 2026-11-03
• HM Land Registry publishes new avoidable requisitions ... — gov.uk, 2026-11-02