New contractual control agreements are set to come into effect from April 2027 requiring option agreements, conditional contracts and pre-emption rights, amongst others agreements, to be submitted digitally to HM Land Registry (HMLR).
To prepare for this HMLR has published a new practice guide to help conveyancers and the wider property market understand and prepare.
Practice guide 84 explains when information about contractual control rights over registered land must be provided to HM Land Registry under the Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026.
The regulations come into force on 6 April 2027 requiring conveyancers to submit information to HMLR when; the right arises under a written contract; the right relates to a future transfer or long lease of registered land; the right is held ‘for the purposes of an undertaking’; and the right is generally enforceable against the proprietor of the registered estate.
Further details on the criteria is contained within the practice guide. Importantly, the new requirements state anyone providing information to HMLR on behalf of a grantee must be a individual “qualified to act in land registration matters”; an individually regulated solicitor, licensed conveyancer or chartered legal executive. The submission may be prepared by a colleague said HMLR, but the application must be made by a regulated legal professional.
HMLR said the new requirements “will improve transparency in the property market by making it easier to understand who has influence over how land is used and developed, even where ownership has not changed.”
The Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026 come into force on 6 April 2027 with HMLR’s new digital submission service available on the same day. HMLR added they anticipate contractual control data would be published publicly from April 2028.
