Reducing requisitions: building a culture of excellence at Attwells

Avoidable requisitions add extra work for conveyancers, slow down the registration process and can affect the experience clients receive. HM Land Registry’s avoidable requisition dataset, training and guidance support firms to identify where improvements can be made.

One firm that has seen real progress is Attwells Solicitors, conveyancing specialists employing a 70-strong team across offices in Ipswich, Woodbridge, Colchester and London.

Attwells’ avoidable requisition rate has reduced from almost 8% to just under 5% over the year 2025/26 - a significant improvement driven by focused internal changes and a positive shift in working culture, supported by the wider resources available to all HM Land Registry (HMLR) customers. HMLR’s own efforts to reduce the number of requisitions it issues have also contributed to this progress. I spoke with Head of Conveyancing, Laura Catania (pictured above), to learn more about how the firm achieved these results.

Putting quality back in fee earners’ hands

Keen to reduce requisitions, Attwells reviewed how post-completion work was handled within the firm and shifted responsibility from a separate post-completion team to the fee earners managing the files. 

This increased accountability and helped ensure work remained accurate from completion through to registration.

And they made a bold change: fee earners now handle their own post-completion process.

This helped embed a stronger sense of ownership, improve attention to detail and reinforce Laura’s firm view that client care continues right through to registration.

Using data to guide conversations

When HMLR announced the publication of avoidable requisition data, Attwells used it as an opportunity to look carefully at where avoidable issues were coming from.

Laura said the forthcoming dataset “gave a goal to work towards”, helping the firm prioritise changes and set expectations.

She broke the data down by department, then by fee earner, and used it to spark constructive conversations with department heads, ensuring responsibility was shared across the business rather than sitting with one team.

This internal leadership and transparency helped colleagues understand where improvements were needed and where support or training might be beneficial. The move also introduced an element of healthy rivalry between teams.

Strengthening skills through training

Attwells strengthened internal training, with an inhouse trainer providing sessions on AP1s and other registration requirements. Staff across all departments - not only conveyancers – are encouraged to complete relevant HMLR training.

The firm also saw a noticeable increase in staff referring to HMLR Practice Guides, a simple change that Laura said made a real difference in helping colleagues resolve queries earlier in the process.

Attwells encourage attendance at HMLR’s live workshops, which Laura describes as “highly recommended”.

Developing a post-completion monitoring dashboard

To help track progress and avoid missed actions, Attwells developed a dashboard that shows the status of, for example, stamp duty submissions, lodged applications and any requisitions.

This helps ensure nothing is missed - especially when people are away - and gives department heads better oversight of applications in progress.

Laura said the dashboard helps prevent requisitions “being lost in the mix”, ensures visibility across teams and reduces the risk of delays.

The results: faster responses, better confidence, happier clients

Laura described receiving recent applications back from HMLR “incredibly quickly and with no requisitions”, reinforcing colleagues’ pride and confidence in their work and helping Attwells deliver a smoother end-to-end client experience.

With more clients checking the status of their applications online, fewer delays help maintain trust and demonstrate the firm’s commitment to high-quality service.

Leadership and culture change at the heart of improvement

A consistent theme in Attwells’ story is that meaningful change came from within. Laura puts their progress down to:

• open, honest conversations with colleagues
• shared ownership of quality across all departments
• realistic expectations - knowing requisitions can’t be eliminated entirely
• willingness to learn and adopt new tools such as HMLR guidance and training
• a collaborative mindset across teams and with external bodies
  

The avoidable requisition dataset helped point them to the right areas, but the firm’s own internal focus drove the changes.

Looking Ahead

Attwells find the emails accompanying dataset updates (currently every six months) helpful for tracking trends over time and comparing themselves against similar organisations. Laura described the current level of detail as offering the right balance without overloading customers with information.

She noted that healthy competition between firms adds extra motivation: “When you look at similar size firms… you do want to pip them to the post.”

Conclusion

Attwells’ experience shows how firms can use the avoidable requisition dataset - alongside training, guidance and internal systems - to reduce avoidable requisitions and strengthen the overall client experience.

HMLR is committed to providing relevant, practical support when and where it’s needed. Visit our training hub for round-the-clock access to free guidance, training, videos and workshops.

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