Land Registry: 860 customers generated no ARs
Most of the HM Land Registry (HMLR) customers will avoidable requisition (AR) rates of 20% or more are law firms, new figures have revealed.
However, the largest conveyancers are mainly able to keep rates at a low level.
Publication of the number of ARs generated by every customer [1] is part of HMLR’s push [2] to reduce the number of register change applications that “barring occasional human error, a diligent applicant carrying out the usual range of enquiries and searches will avoid”.
These include unexplained name variations, lodgement of illegible or incomplete deeds or documents, incorrect execution and/or witnessing of a deed or document, and incorrect fees.
Other common issues are no or incomplete information as to how a title is held by joint owners, identity verification information/evidence not provided or incomplete, plans references in the text of deeds or documents not shown on plans, no evidence provided of an attorney’s power to act, incomplete forms lodged, no address for service provided, and no or incomplete evidence of devolution of title following a death.
The data showed the number of ARs in the preceding six months lodged by customers that made 10 or more applications in that time. HMLR said last month that the average was 4.6%.
Of the 28 whose rate was 20% or more, 22 were law firms, although almost all of them made fewer than 30 applications over the six months.
The single worst rate was Oxfordshire law firm Dale & Dale, five of whose 11 applications (45%) led to ARs.
There were two customers, Southern Housing (six from 18) and Essex firm HSH Solicitors (five from 16) that scored over 30%.
At the other end of the scale, 860 customers (out of a total of 4,610) generated no ARs at all. Warrington-based Restons Solicitors, which acts for lenders and debt purchasers to recover debt, was the law firm with the highest volume – 729 applications – that caused no ARs.
The figures showed that only one of the five big players in the six months – Taylor Rose – scored notably worse than the average: ONP (44,620 applications, AR rate of 2%), Enact (40,523, 2.7%), Taylor Rose (22,642, 6.5%), Optima Legal (20,517, 1.9%) and Knights (18,077, 4.9%).
No other customer made more than 10,000 applications. Of those with an AR rate of at least 10%, the firm with the biggest caseload was Newport firm Hennah Haywood Law (1,509, 10.2%).
A Taylor Rose spokesman said it had undertaken a major project in recent months to reduce requisitions. It has also centralised post-completion services so that all applications are now handled by its in-house team.
“These measures are already delivering results. Infotrack data shows Taylor Rose’s requisition rates have more than halved in the last six months of data, and it expects this to be reflected in the next set of figures from HMLR for this year.”
Iain Banfield, interim chief executive and chief land registrar, said: “Firms have told us they want clearer insight into where they can improve, and this dataset provides that. The progress we’ve seen over the past six months shows what is possible when we work together.
“There is still more to do, but these results demonstrate real momentum and a shared commitment to reducing delays for our customers and their clients.”
Since HMLR started its campaign to reduce ARs, 29% of professional customers cut their rates, meaning 57% now have rates below 5%. One in five are achieving rates under 1%, up from 17% last year.
Sheila Kumar, chief executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, added: “It is clear that the focus on requisition rates and improving title application quality is already having a positive impact for home buyers and the property industry.”
The AR data is seen as a proxy for the quality of a law firm’s services and both regulators and comparison websites are likely to look at how they can use it.