Renters' Rights Act 2025, Phase 1 commencement
Transition readiness pack

Property Transparency

Beneficial Ownership Register UK

Register of Overseas Entities (ECTE Act 2022); annual update obligation; title restrictions; PSC register for UK property companies; Trust Registration Service for trusts holding UK land; Form A and Form RQ HMLR restrictions.

13 min readUpdated 8 June 2026Last reviewed: 17 May 2026beneficial-ownershipregister-of-overseas-entitiespsctrust-registration

Register of Overseas Entities — ECTE Act 2022

Overseas legal entities owning freehold or leasehold (7+ years remaining) UK land must register their beneficial owners with Companies House under the ROE. Annual updates must be filed within 14 days of each registration anniversary. Non-compliance results in a title restriction preventing any dealings and criminal penalties of up to 12 months' imprisonment.

PSC Register — UK Property Companies

All UK companies and LLPs holding property must maintain a PSC register identifying individuals or entities with 25%+ shares/voting rights or significant influence/control. Changes must be filed within 14 days. PSC information is publicly available at Companies House.

Trust Registration Service — Trusts Holding UK Land

From 1 September 2022, all express trusts (including non-taxable trusts) that hold UK land must register on HMRC's TRS. Simple co-ownership trusts are exempt. The TRS is not publicly accessible — available only to HMRC, law enforcement, and regulated AML-supervised entities.

HMLR Form A and Form RQ Restrictions

A Form A restriction is entered on co-owned and trust-held property — preventing single-trustee dispositions. A voluntary Form RQ restriction requires identity verification before registration of any disposition. The HMLR overseas entity restriction prevents dealings on ROE-registrable land until compliance is achieved.

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