Simon Blackburn
- Partner
- Residential Property
The Contractual Controls Register: what landowners, estates and charities need to know
For many landowners, estates and charities, development arrangements are negotiated privately and often remain confidential for years. That is set to change. A new register of contractual control rights will require certain agreements affecting land to be reported to HM Land Registry, increasing transparency around development opportunities and potentially altering the way future transactions are structured and negotiated.
The new transparency regime for contractual rights over land is coming into effect on 6 April 2027. The Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026 (“the Regulations”) will require information about certain agreements affecting registered land in England and Wales to be provided to HM Land Registry and some, agreements entered from 8 June 2026 may already fall within the regime.
Which contracts are caught?
The regulations target “contractual control rights”. Broadly, this will catch written arrangements which allow a party to control the future ownership or disposal of land without owning it outright. They include option agreements, conditional sale agreements, rights of pre-emption and certain land promotion agreements.
This will be particularly relevant to landowners and estates entering in to arrangements with developers or promoters over land with development potential.
Charities are also expressly within scope where the relevant right is held for the purposes of their undertaking.
Not every land agreement is caught. Exclusions include rights lasting for less than 18 months, certain security arrangements and rights held exclusively for purposes unrelated to future development. Rights relating exclusively to specified infrastructure, amenities or services under section 106 agreements are also excluded.
An individual acting privately, for example acquiring a contractual control right in their personal name with the intention of living at the property as their private residence, will generally fall outside the reporting regime. By contrast, where the right is acquired for investment, development or other commercial purposes, such as constructing a property for letting or resale at a profit, the reporting obligations are likely to apply.
Reporting obligations
The principal reporting obligation falls on the grantee, meaning the party benefiting from the contractual control right. Information must be submitted digitally to HM Land Registry through a regulated conveyancer. The information required includes the identities of the parties, the type and duration of the right, details of how it may be exercised and the land affected.
Going forward, it will be necessary to consider whether agreements need to include appropriate provisions requiring the parties to cooperate with the reporting process and provide the information required.
Key deadlines
Contractual control rights granted between 8 June 2026 and 5 April 2027 must be reported to HM Land Registry by 6 October 2027.
From 6 April 2027, new contractual control rights need to be reported within 60 days of the right being granted. Assignments and relevant written variations can also trigger a fresh 60-day reporting requirement, as can the exercise, expiry or termination of a previously reported right.
The register is intended to become publicly available after 6 April 2028, with HM Land Registry required to update the published dataset at least monthly.
Why does this matter?
The requirement for greater transparency may have commercial consequences. Development arrangements which were previously private may become more visible to neighbouring owners, prospective purchasers and other developers. This may affect how landowners, developers and promoters approach negotiations and plan future development opportunities.
Compliance also matters. Failure to provide required information, or knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information could constitute a criminal offence.
Landowners, estates and charities should therefore start identifying relevant agreements entered into from 8 June 2026, review procedures for future transactions and ensure that reporting requirements are considered whenever qualifying rights are granted, assigned or brought to an end.
For further information please contact your usual Wedlake Bell adviser.
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or a comprehensive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should always be sought in relation to individual circumstances.
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Anna Giles
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- Residential Property
