A new statutory register for contractual control agreements is set to be introduced. With the regulations due to take effect in April 2027 – and capturing agreements exchanged well before then – developers, promoters and investors need to prepare now. The shift promises greater transparency, but also potential for sharper competition and higher stakes for those securing sites.

Published: 11 March 2026
Authors: Michael Callaghan

What is happening?

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 contains provisions to permit the creation of a register of contractual control agreements – agreements that give third parties control over the use and development of land.  The register will be used by local authorities, communities and smaller developers to see who is controlling potential development land in their local areas.

The regulations to implement the register have been laid before parliament.  They will come into force on 6 April 2027 (one year later than originally intended).

What do I need to do?

The property industry needs to start preparing now for the introduction of the new register.  Although the regulations do not come into force until 6 April 2027, any agreements exchanged between the date that the regulations are made and the date that they come into force will become registrable.  We do not know the date when the regulations will be made but the government has indicated that it will be in the first half of 2026.

What will require registration?

Agreements that will require registration are those relating to registered land that will last for more than 18 months, taking into account any right to extend the period that the rights under the agreement could be exercised.

Registration is required only if the rights under the agreement are held by a person that is an undertaking, charity or similar organisation or is exercising a public function.

Option agreements, conditional contracts, pre-emption rights, promotion agreements or any other contracts that allow a third party to direct a landowner to dispose of land to another person will be registrable.

Registration is mandatory if the agreement is entered into with the owner of the land.  Registration is also required if an agreement is entered into with a person who is not the landowner if you want to enter a notice or restriction in relation to the agreement on the landowner’s registered title.

Are any agreements exempt from registration?

Agreements relating to leases for a term of less than 15 years are outside the scope of the regulations.

Agreements made for the purpose of national security or defence are specifically excluded from registration as are rights in an agreement necessary or incidental to security for a loan or financial instrument or security for deferred consideration or overage.

Agreements exclusively held for purposes that do not relate to future development resulting in the provision of one or more dwelling-houses or a building where the floorspace created by the development is 100 square metres or more are excluded from registration.

Finally, rights in a section 106 Agreement that relate exclusively to the provision of infrastructure, amenities or services in connection with a grant of planning permission are excluded from registration.

Who will apply for registration?

A conveyancer acting for the party acquiring rights under an agreement will be required to register the agreement via an on-line portal maintained by the Land Registry.  Registration by other persons is not permitted.

Registration must be made within 60 days of the exchange of the agreement.  For those agreements exchanged during the period from the date that the regulations are made to the date that the regulations come into force, registration must be made by 6 October 2027.

It will be important for parties to maintain details of any new agreements exchanged once the regulations are made so that their registration is not overlooked when the regulations come into force.

What details will be required for registration?

The registration process requires details of the type of agreement entered into, the names, registration numbers and type of organisation of the parties to the agreement (including the date and place of birth of any individuals), the date the agreement was entered into, the start date of the agreement, the end date, rights to extend or terminate the agreement, the address and extent of the property subject to the agreement and title numbers of the land.

How will the requirement to register be enforced?

An agreement will need to be added to the new register before it can be protected at HM Land Registry by an agreed or unilateral notice or before any restrictions on the landowner making dispositions of the property are added to the registered title.

Under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, it is a criminal offence not to comply with the regulations that require the registration of contractual control agreements.  It is also an offence to provide misleading or false information in relation to the agreement if this is done knowingly or recklessly.

Are there any other registration requirements?

In addition to registering the creation of agreements, it will also be necessary to register any assignment of the rights under an agreement or any variation of the terms of an agreement if the variation affects any of the terms included on the register.  These registration requirements will include the assignment or variation of an agreement that did not have to be registered under the regulations when it was exchanged.

Where an agreement has been included on the register, notice must be given of the determination, expiry or exercise of the rights under the agreement.

What information will be disclosed?

From 6 April 2028, the Land Registry will provide monthly datasets showing the information held on the register (excluding the date and place of birth of individuals).

What will the impact be?

Developers will need to be prepared for greater transparency in relation to their development proposals.

Greater transparency will undoubtedly result in earlier engagement between developers and communities about proposed developments.  However, with greater transparency, there is a risk that those opposed to development will have more time to prepare objections during the planning process or take other actions to frustrate the development, potentially slowing development or making it more costly.

There is also a risk that transparency will drive up land prices.  An adjoining landowner who knows that part of their land may be required for a proposed development may be forearmed and potentially inflate the price that they ask for their land, or the rights required over it, to enable the development proposals to proceed.  Site assembly might become more costly as a result.

Finally, smaller developers may be wary of the requirement to register contractual control agreements.  If they have secured a development site and details appear on the register, that information will be available to larger, better resourced developers, with the risk that they may then seek to promote alternative schemes taking advantage of the opportunity that the smaller developer has identified.  Developers may be more reluctant to waste time and money on development schemes if other developers are then able to take unfair advantage of the development opportunities that have identified.