Register of Contractual Controls on Land – Consultation Period Drawing to a Close
Time is running out for those who wish to respond to the government’s proposals for a public register of contractual controls on land. The consultation launched by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities runs until 20 March 2024.
The consultation seeks views on regulations to be made pursuant to Part 11 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. The proposal is to capture and publish information relating to contractual control agreements (CCAs), creating a freely available dataset of that information. The consultation indicates that implementation of the regulations is expected to be on or around 6 April 2026.
Improving transparency around who controls land is the underlying principle. The proposed register of “what”, “where”, “who” and “when” of CCAs will be of particular interest to those involved in real estate development.
The proposed regulations would require the disclosure of information about CCAs granted to an ‘undertaking’ (such as a business, charity or body exercising a public function) and are intended to secure land or property for residential, commercial or mixed-use development. CCAs include option agreements, pre-emption agreements, conditional contracts and land promotion agreements (but not restrictive covenants or overage agreements). The CCA must relate to registered land and subsist for twelve or more months, or if shorter, must include an entitlement for the grantee to extend the agreement. Agreements made for the purposes of national security or defence or to facilitate finance and loan agreements will be exempt from the regulations.
Information that would need to be disclosed to the Land Registry includes details of the parties, the type of CCA, Land Registry title number(s) and an indication of the length of the CCA but, as currently proposed, does not include disclosure of commercially sensitive information (such as prices, premiums and deposits).
The regulations are proposed to apply retrospectively requiring disclosure not only of new CCAs entered into after the commencement of the regulations but also of existing CCAs entered into after 6 April 2021 or an existing CCA entered into at any time which is varied or assigned after the commencement date of the regulations.
There will be penalties for failure to comply with the disclosure requirements which are expected to include up to six months imprisonment or a £5,000 fine and up to two years imprisonment and an unlimited fine for knowingly or recklessly providing false information. If information regarding CCAs is not provided, the Land Registry will refuse to register a notice or restriction relating to the CCA against the relevant title.
It’s time to express your views if your business is likely to be affected by the government’s contractual controls on land proposals - Contractual controls on land: consultation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The regulations, which the government plans to deliver under the Act, seek to create a dataset comprising the “what”, “where”, “who” and “when” of contractual control agreements that will promote transparency by providing a reliable and accessible source of information for communities, developers, and other stakeholders.”
