The Land Registry are to reintroduce the cancellation of applications where there are outstanding requests for information (requisitions) from 16 November 2020.

Shortly after the pandemic, the Land Registry made the decision to pause cancelling applications. This was seen by most property lawyers as the common-sense approach, as there was chaos in the property sector. However, this has meant the Land Registry have approximately 100,000 applications which are delayed and cannot be processed. The Land Registry will begin to issue reminder letters on 16 November 2020 to property lawyers. The property lawyer will then have 4 weeks to provide the outstanding information to the Land Registry otherwise the application will be cancelled. But remember if you cannot satisfy the outstanding information, you are still able to request an extension.

My top tips to make sure you don’t receive any cancellations are to:

1. Review all your outstanding requisitions. If you have the information to satisfy the requisition send it to the Land Registry now, don’t wait for the reminder!
2. If you can’t satisfy the requisition, take a few minutes to think through the steps that you need to take to be able to satisfy it and take action today.
3. Make sure you diarise key dates in the process to satisfy the requisition, so you don’t get caught out!