Land Registry publishes guide to new rules on recording land option deals

HM Land Registry has published detailed guidance on a new legal duty that will make the deals developers use to secure land for future building a matter of public record in England and Wales.

The guide, released on Monday for conveyancers, explains how the Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026 will work. The regulations were made in June under powers in Part 11 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and come into force on 6 April 2027.

What counts as contractual control

Landowners who expect their land to be worth more with planning permission often sign agreements that let a developer or land promoter buy it later, or control when and how it is sold. These are usually not visible on the title register, so neighbours, councils and rival buyers may not know who has a stake.

The regulations cover four kinds of right over registered land:

• an option to make the owner sell or lease the land
• a conditional contract, where a sale or lease goes ahead once conditions such as planning permission are met
• a right of pre-emption, giving first refusal if the owner decides to sell
• a right to direct or ask the owner to sell, common in promotion agreements where the land is marketed and the proceeds shared

A right only counts if it concerns the freehold or a lease of 15 years or more, is held for business, charitable or public purposes, and can last 18 months or longer. There are exemptions, including rights held only for purposes unconnected with housing or with other building work creating 100 square metres or more of floorspace, overage payments owed to a former owner, security for loans, and some section 106 planning agreements.

Deadlines and penalties

From 6 April 2027, anyone granted a new right, or taking an existing one by assignment or written variation, must send the required details to the Land Registry within 60 days. Rights granted between 8 June 2026 and 5 April 2027 must be reported before 6 October 2027.

The information will include the type of right, who holds it, the land affected and how long the right lasts. Holders will also have to say when a right ends or is exercised. The Land Registry said it will not publish some details, such as a landowner's date of birth.

Submissions will be made through a new service on the Land Registry's portal, with a connection for conveyancing software to follow. Failing to provide the information without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence, and the Land Registry said it will not normally record a notice or restriction protecting such a right on the register until the details have been supplied.

When the public can see it

The Land Registry said it will publish the dataset from 6 April 2028, with details of how to access it still to be announced. The government says the aim is to show local authorities and communities who controls land in their area and to make the land market fairer and more efficient.

The guide advises conveyancers to check now whether rights they are arranging will fall within the rules, and to set reminders so that agreements signed before April 2027 are not missed.