The UK’s Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026 (the Regulations) were made on 8 June 2026 and will introduce a new requirement to disclose certain contractual arrangements which confer control over registered land in England and Wales.
In broad terms, arrangements such as options, conditional contracts, and pre-emption rights, which give a party the ability to influence how land is used or developed, will now be required to be reported to HM Land Registry (HMLR) through a regulated conveyancer.
The Regulations form part of the UK government’s wider initiative to increase transparency in the land market and will come into force on 6 April 2027.
Overview of the Regime Established by the Regulations
The Regulations establish a new disclosure regime for contractual controls over registered land in England and Wales, introducing reporting requirements for arrangements which confer influence over how land is used or developed.
Scope
The regime applies broadly to written arrangements which confer control over future development or disposal for development over the whole or part of registered land (freehold or leasehold title with a term of more than 15 years) without immediate acquisition as part of longer-term site assembly and planning strategies. This includes options, conditional contracts, pre-emption rights, and certain promotion agreements. Both absolute and conditional rights are captured (for example, those contingent on planning permission), provided that the right conferred is for a period of more than 18 months.
Importantly, scope is determined by commercial effect rather than drafting, meaning arrangements may be caught even where they are not expressed in “development” terms.
Exemptions
Exemptions are limited and include certain security arrangements, short-term rights, and arrangements which relate purely to non-development uses as well as rights relating exclusively to the provision of infrastructure, amenities or services in connection with a grant of planning permission. Stakeholders should consider analysing reliance on an exemption carefully, interpreting narrowly, and documenting appropriately.
Mandatory Reporting
A mandatory reporting obligation requires the beneficiary of the relevant right to file certain information about the right via a regulated conveyancer within 60 days of defined trigger events, including the grant, exercise, assignment, variation and/or termination of such right.
Most contractual control rights will be protected on the registered title by the entry of a notice or a restriction (as defined in Section 40(1) of the Land Registration Act 2002).
Digital Submission
The regime will operate via a new digital HMLR submission system, requiring detailed information to be provided, relating to the parties (specific disclosure requirements apply depending on whether the respective parties are a body corporate, partnership or other legal person or an individual); the land; and the key commercial terms of the arrangement, including duration, conditions, and exercise windows. Once submitted, the information will be retained by HMLR and, from April 2028, most of the information will be available in a public database.
Non-compliance
Non-compliance carries both transactional and regulatory risk. HMLR may refuse to enter or maintain title protections where reporting obligations have not been met, and failure to comply, or the provision of false or misleading information, constitutes a criminal offence (in accordance with Section 225 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023).
Timing and Transitional Arrangements
The Regulations introduce a phased reporting regime depending on when rights are created or subsequently dealt with.
Rights granted between 8 June 2026 and 6 April 2027 will fall within a transitional period and must be reported to HMLR by 6 October 2027, once the new digital system is operational.
From 6 April 2027 onwards, the regime becomes fully effective. Any new contractual control rights granted on or after that date — and any existing rights which are subsequently exercised, varied, assigned or otherwise triggered — must be reported within 60 days of the relevant trigger event.
This creates an ongoing, time-sensitive compliance obligation which stakeholders should consider embedding into transaction execution and asset management processes.
Practical Implications for Transactions and Financing
Market participants may wish to begin addressing the implications of the regime now, both in terms of documentation and transaction execution.
Transaction documents may evolve to include express provisions allocating responsibility for compliance, including clear obligations on the beneficiary of the relevant right to make timely filings, together with appropriate information and cooperation undertakings from counterparties.
Parties should also consider risk allocation, including the consequences of non-compliance and any potential impact on enforceability or value.
While corporate transactions involving land-holding companies are not themselves within scope, parties may still need to assess whether any underlying asset-level arrangements fall within the regime and require reporting.
From a financing perspective, lenders may treat compliance as part of the core diligence and ongoing covenant package, with evidence of registration potentially required as a condition precedent, an ongoing information covenant, and in some cases, a trigger for default where reporting obligations are breached.
Thus, stakeholders should consider working to align their acquisition, development, and financing documentation to confirm that obligations are consistent and deliverable in practice.
Next Steps
HMLR’s digital platforms for the submission and management of this information are currently being developed, and HMLR may publish further guidance and a practice guide in advance of implementation.
Clients may see this regime become a routine feature of transaction execution and asset management, rather than a one-off compliance exercise, with increased focus on timing, documentation and internal tracking processes.
