Who really controls land? New register set to reveal all in 2026

A major transparency reform is on the horizon for the UK property sector. As we have previously reported, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 set out a framework requiring certain information to be disclosed to the Land Registry to provide greater transparency over who owns and controls land.

The government is now actively preparing to launch a public register of ‘contractual control agreements’, including option agreements, pre-emption rights and conditional contracts.

Set to go live in 2026, the register aims to create a user-friendly tool for local authorities, communities, developers and other stakeholders to identify contractual control agreements. Many of these agreements are already routinely protected at the Land Registry, which is publicly accessible, but the government is concerned that they are not currently recorded in an easily accessible or transparent way.

Where are we now?

Following the publication of draft regulations [1] in early 2024 and a period of industry consultation, progress was temporarily paused during the 2024 General Election. However, the initiative is still very much alive.

Matthew Pennycook, Minister for Housing, wrote to the Chair of the Land Registry earlier this year, setting out the government’s priorities for the Land Registry over the next 12 months. In additional to the usual things such as clearing the backlog and improving efficiency, the letter also stated that the Land Registry should continue to work on the design and delivery of systems to collect and publish details of contractual control arrangements, ahead of a planned launch in 2026. The Land Registry recently invited local authority planning teams to take part in research sessions to inform service development on this issue (see Local Land Charges Newsletter September 2025).

What will be caught?

If the draft regulations are implemented, the register will apply to written agreements over registered land, intended to facilitate future development, lasting 12 months or more (or shorter agreements with extension rights). This includes option agreements, conditional contracts, pre-emption rights and promotion agreements.

Restrictive covenants (which restrict the use of land) and overage agreements (which entitle a seller to future payments in certain circumstances) are not caught under the draft regulations.

How will the new register work?

The party entering into the relevant agreement with the landowner must ensure that its conveyancer provides the required information to the Land Registry within prescribe time limits.

The register will show:

• type of agreement 
• names of the contracting parties,
• the start and end date of the agreement,
• any rights to extend the agreement,
• the property and the Land Registry title number, and
• details of the solicitors involved in the agreement.

The underlying agreements themselves do not need to be disclosed (allowing financial data to remain confidential), but in some cases the mere existence of the agreement may well be commercially sensitive. 

Retrospective Effect

We understand that the regime will have retrospective effect and will apply to any agreements entered into after 6 April 2021. This means that developers will need to review past agreements which could represent a significant administrative burden.

Enforcement & Compliance

Failure to provide the required information or providing false or misleading information will be a criminal offence.   

Next Steps

There will certainly be some benefits to having readily accessible information about such agreements (for example for local planning authorities), but concerns have been expressed about some aspects of the draft regulations. It will involve additional work for the Land Registry which already has resourcing challenges resulting in delays in processing applications. The retrospective application is controversial. For example, a previous option agreement may have been protected at the Land Registry with a unilateral notice (meaning that only limited information about the agreement was provided) and yet now, further information must be provided with a criminal sanction for failure to do so. 

With the 2026 implementation date approaching, developers should begin auditing existing agreements from April 2021 onward, reviewing confidentiality clauses for potential conflicts and preparing internal systems for data collection and registration.

The government has not yet published a response to the 2024 consultation on contractual controls on land and we hope that there will be further engagement with the property sector before the regulations are finalised.