Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, introduced to the House of Commons on Wednesday 19 January a bill to set up a register of overseas entities and their beneficial owners, requiring overseas entities who own land to register in certain circumstances. Although the text is not yet available, the register would likely be similar to the persons with significant control regime that governs UK companies. The changes proposed are likely to be all the more significant if there are civil and criminal sanctions for non-compliance. We may also see restrictions introduced on a relevant land owner’s ability to sell its property unless the new registration requirements have been met.

Déjà vu? The proposal for compulsory registration of beneficial land owners is not new. It was mooted following the London Anti-Corruption Summit in May 2016 to help combat money laundering and achieve greater transparency in the UK property market. In July 2018, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy published a draft bill setting out the legal framework whereby an overseas entity buying land, that already owns land, or has a lease of land for more than seven (7) years in the UK must identify its beneficial owner(s) and provide information about itself, its beneficial owner(s) and managing officer(s) to Companies House. The 2018 draft bill attached criminal liability to the failure of a registered overseas entity to comply with its duty to register, to update the registrar, or for providing misleading information to the registrar.   

The second reading for Layla Moran’s bill is scheduled for Friday 18 March 2022. As a private members’ bill, there is no guarantee of success. However, key Westminster figures including former Children’s Minister Dame Margaret Hodge, former conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former secretary of state for culture, media and sport Ben Bradshaw and former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas have all given Moran’s bill cross-party support. The government has also voiced support. Lord Martin Callanan (a Conservative peer) said on 13 December 2021 that the government remains committed to establishing a new beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own property and that the government will legislate when parliamentary time allows. Perhaps 2022 will be the year we see these proposals become law?