Shining a Light on Land Deals: New Rules for Options, Contracts and Pre Emption Rights

The legal basis for this is Part 11 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, which allows the government to collect and publish information about these kinds of land control arrangements.  

The Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026 were made on 8 June 2026 and will take effect on 6 April 2027.  

Where property agreements allow a person to influence how land is used or developed, specified information will have to be given to the Land Registry, which will publish that information.  

The Regulations also allow the Land Registry to refuse to register or update a notice or restriction if the required information has not been provided. Landowners and contracting parties will not want to lose those protections.  

The prescribed information must be submitted digitally through a regulated conveyancer. For rights granted between 8 June 2026 and 5 April 2027, the information must be submitted by 6 October 2027.  

For new rights granted, changed or assigned on or after 6 April 2027, the information must be submitted within 60 calendar days. 

The Land Registry is still developing the digital system and we await the detailed guidance of how this will operate.

We will build suitable safeguards into our post completion workflows.

Clients seeking to ensure their property rights will be fully protected, should reach out to their solicitor for further information and guidance.