Avoidable delays in registering home sales have almost halved since 2022, says Land Registry

Avoidable hold-ups in registering property sales and purchases have almost halved since 2022, according to new figures from HM Land Registry, which has published fresh data to help conveyancers cut delays further.

For anyone buying or selling a home in Birmingham, it is a small but welcome sign that one part of the moving process is getting smoother.

What is a requisition?

When a sale or purchase completes, the buyer's conveyancer applies to HM Land Registry to register the change of ownership. If something is missing or wrong in that application, the Land Registry raises a "requisition", a request for more information or action before it can finish the job.

Many of these are avoidable: missing identity evidence, names that do not match, unclear plans or missing supporting documents. Each one adds work and time.

A 47.7% fall

HM Land Registry's analysis shows the number of avoidable requisition points fell from around 839,000 in 2022 to 439,000 in 2025, a drop of 47.7%. Allowing for changes in the number of applications, the rate fell by 39.1%, so the improvement is not simply because there were fewer sales.

Progress has continued this year. Between January and September 2026 there were around 94 avoidable points per 1,000 applications, an 11% lower rate than in 2025.

Andrew Robertson, Head of Customer Policy at HM Land Registry, said: "Reducing avoidable requisitions is a shared achievement. Conveyancers, post-completion teams and industry bodies have worked with us to improve application quality, helping to reduce unnecessary work and delays for everyone involved."

New data for every firm

HM Land Registry has now published its third avoidable requisitions dataset, covering 1 April to 30 September 2026, and has emailed each firm with details of the requisitions it received. The aim is to help law firms spot recurring mistakes and focus their checks and training where they will make the most difference.

Mr Robertson said: "We encourage firms to use their data to identify recurring issues and focus their checks and training where they will have the most impact. We will keep improving our guidance, services and the consistency of the requisitions we raise."

Still room to improve

Missing or unclear information is now the most common type of avoidable requisition, and the single most common individual problem is identity evidence not being supplied.

Tips for Birmingham movers

Most of this work happens behind the scenes, but buyers and sellers can help their conveyancer by providing identity documents promptly, making sure names are spelled exactly as they appear on official documents, and flagging any name changes, for example after marriage, early on.

Registration usually happens after you have moved in, so a requisition will not normally stop you getting the keys. But a cleaner application means the official record of who owns the home is updated sooner, which matters if you later want to remortgage or sell.