Register of Overseas Entities

On 1 August 2022 the new Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 came into force and with it a new Register of Overseas Entities was created.

New land registration requirements will also soon come into force on 5 September 2022.

The new law was introduced to address concerns regarding a lack of transparency around who ultimately owns land in the UK and will affect both existing owners of real estate in the UK and prospective buyers who are overseas entities.

Here are the key dates.

·       1 January 1999 – any overseas entity that became the registered proprietor of a qualifying estate in UK real property on or after this date will be captured by the provisions of the new law.

·       28 February 2022 – any overseas entity that has disposed of a qualifying estate in UK real property on or after this date, but prior to the expiry of the transitional period described below, will be required to disclose certain beneficial ownership information to the registrar.

·       1 August 2022 – a six-month transitional period began.

·       5 September 2022 – the new land registration requirements will come into force.

·       31 January 2023 – the transitional period will end – any overseas entity still owning a qualifying estate in UK real property on this date must have applied to be registered on the Register of Overseas Entities.

See this briefing from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for a very good summary of the new law and how it will be applied.