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Download a document API technical guide

Use this service to download documents provided by HMLR

Version and Status

How to use the Download a document API

Obtain a download id

Before you can use this service, you will need to obtain a download id. Currently the only way to do this is to submit an application to change the Land Register. This process will result in one of the following types of document being generated:

  • requisition
  • cancellation
  • completion

The generation of each of these documents would trigger a notification to be sent via the Notifications API, which would contain a download id. Once this notification is sent, the document will be available for download.

Note: A download id may be available in the Application information API’s response before the notification is sent, under the /correspondences array. The document is not guaranteed to be available for download until the notification has been issued.

Downloading a document

Once you’ve obtained the download id you can use it in a GET request to this service. The request is simple and will result in the document binary being returned (as long as your request method allows redirects).

Upon completion, you can retrieve an Official Copy. Official Copies are currently only returned as PDF documents. We recognise the need for Official Copy data at completion and are considering this for a future release, but there are no confirmed timelines as of yet.

Validation rules

There are no validation rules for implementing this API.

Example requests and responses

For specific examples of notification payloads produced during application submission, view Notifications API documentation.

Download a document (redirection enabled)

Request

curl --method GET \ 
  --url {base_url}/v1/documents/{download id}
  -u {username}:{password}

Response

Status: 200

Body: document binary

Download a document (redirection disabled)

Request 1

curl --method GET \ 
  --url {base_url}/v1/documents/{download id}
  -u {username}:{password}

Response 1

Status: 302

Header: Location: <download url>

Request 2

curl --method GET \ 
  --url {download url}

Response 2

Status: 200

Body: document binary

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