Disclosure of Contractual Control Agreements: What you need to know

The Contractual Control Regulations, which introduce a new regime for the disclosure of information relating to certain contractual control agreements, were made at the beginning of June 2026. Although the regime will not be fully in force until April 2027, the new disclosure obligations will apply to qualifying agreements entered into on or after 8 June 2026.

Contractual control agreements

The Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026 (the Regulations) require developers, and others with the benefit of certain contractual land agreements, including conditional purchase agreements, pre-emption agreements, promotion agreements and option agreements to disclose certain “contractual control information” to the Land Registry.

The information, including details that would not previously have been open to public scrutiny, will be recorded and maintained by the Land Registry on a new Contractual Control Register that will be open to public inspection.

Registration requirements

The Regulations apply to:

• New rights granted on or after 8 June 2026 (the date that the Regulations were made).
• Existing rights which are varied or assigned after 6 April 2027 (including where the underlying agreement predates the Regulations).

The Register is not yet operational and will not be open for applications until April 2027. Rights granted on or after 8 June 2026 but before 6 April 2027 will, however, still fall within scope and must be registered before 6 October 2027. New rights granted on or after 6 April 2027 and existing rights assigned or varied after that date must be registered within 60 days of the date of grant or other trigger event.

The person with the benefit of the contractual control right (in most cases the developer or land promoter) will be responsible for providing the Land Registry with the required information. The Regulations require all such submissions to HM Land Registry to be made by a qualified solicitor.

In practice, most contractual control rights will be protected on the title register by the entry of a notice or a restriction (protecting the grantee but falling short of the full disclosure requirements set out in the Regulations). The Land Registry may refuse an application for a notice or restriction to be entered in respect of a contractual control right if the information required by the Regulations has not been registered.

Information to be disclosed

The person with the benefit of the contractual control right (in most cases the developer or land promoter) will be responsible for providing HM Land Registry with the required information. The Regulations require all such submissions to HM Land Registry to be made by a qualified solicitor.

In practice most contractual control rights will be protected on the title register by the entry of a notice or a restriction (protecting the grantee but falling short of the full disclosure requirements set out in the Regulations). The Land Registry may refuse an application for a notice or restriction to be entered in respect of a contractual control right if the information required by the Regulations has not been provided.

Information to be disclosed

The contractual control information required under the Regulations is intended to allow clear identification of the type of right granted, who it has been granted to, what land it affects and how long it may remain in effect.

To achieve this the following core information will be required. The Land Registry do not require sight of the full agreement setting out the rights.

• Name of the grantee and grantor
• Entity identification (if applicable)
• Date and place of birth of the grantor (if an individual)
• Type of contractual control right
• Date, parties and title or description of the underlying agreement
• Date from which the right can be exercised
• Initial period of control (including details of any expiry date or provisions to renew or terminate)
• Title number of the affected registered estate
• Address and postcode of the land
• Details of sub-surface land (where applicable)

Ongoing compliance

The Regulations require ongoing compliance to ensure that information on the Register is kept up to date including notification of any further variation, assignment or expiry of a contractual control right.

Failure to comply with the Regulations, or knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information will constitute an offence under section 225 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. Offences under section 225 may be committed by individuals, partnerships or corporate entities, and by officers or employees acting on their behalf.

Scope and exemptions

The Regulations apply to contractual control rights held for the benefit of a business, charity or the exercise of functions of a public nature (i.e. not individuals) relating to registered land.

The Regulations will not apply to:

• Leasehold interests with less than 15 years remaining at the date of the grant of the right.
• Unregistered land.

Certain categories of rights will be exempt including:

• Rights granted to secure the repayment of a loan or mortgage.
• Short term rights (with a total period of control of less than 18 months taking into account rights to renew).
• Rights relating exclusively to section 106 agreements.
• Rights made for the purposes of national security.

These exemptions are likely to be interpreted narrowly.

Potential commercial impact

The Regulations present a number of potential areas for concern. Whilst it is not uncommon for developers to choose to note and protect rights against the grantee’s title at HM Land Registry this is currently an entirely voluntary exercise and the information that becomes available as a result of such registration is limited and difficult to collate and view in a single place.

Looking ahead, the availability of potentially sensitive information, that would previously been confidential, may result in higher land prices and other hurdles for those looking to develop sites, whilst perhaps strengthening the hand of those that may be looking to sell land or looking to prevent and or object to a development.

There is also the question of the unforeseen disclosure of information relating to existing agreements that pre-date the Regulations. Whilst such agreements will not require retrospective registration, the variation or assignment of such an agreement after April 2027 will trigger the disclosure and registration requirements set out in the Regulations meaning that potentially sensitive information will need to be disclosed.

The Provision of Information (Contractual Control) (Registered Land) Regulations 2026

Contractual control agreements – GOV.UK

This article was first published in April 2026 and has been updated to reflect the introduction of interim reporting obligations from 8 June 2026, as well as further detail on implementation timelines, registration deadlines and ongoing compliance requirements under the Regulations.