Closed consultation

Contractual controls on land: consultation

Published 24 January 2024

Applies to England and Wales

Scope of the consultation

Topic of this consultation:

Part 11 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act looks to provide greater transparency on contractual control agreements in England and Wales. When we refer to contractual controls, we are referring to agreements, such as option agreements, that are used to control land short of outright ownership. 

The regulations, which the government plans to deliver under the Act, seek to create a dataset comprising the “what”, “where”, “who” and “when” of contractual control agreements that will promote transparency by providing a reliable and accessible source of information for communities, developers, and other stakeholders.

Scope of this consultation:

This consultation seeks views on the government’s plans to provide a more transparent picture of controls on land through the creation of a freely accessible dataset. We have taken into account responses to the 2020 Call for Evidence on data on land control and have used the responses to inform development of policy and legal drafting. This consultation clarifies our rationale for this measure and seeks the views of individuals, organisations and businesses on the time, cost, and market impact implications of collecting and publishing information about contractual control agreements.  

Geographical scope:

These proposals relate to England and Wales.

Impact assessment:

The government will have regard to the potential impact of any proposal on the Public Sector Equality Duty, as well as any potential impacts on business, local authorities, and communities. A data protection impact assessment will also be completed. We are publishing a draft Regulatory Impact Assessment alongside this consultation, which is designed to test the underpinning assumptions and analysis.

Basic Information

Body/bodies responsible for the consultation:

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)

Duration:

This consultation will last for 8 weeks between 24 January 2024 to 20 March 2024

Enquiries:

For any enquiries about this consultation please contact CCAconsultation@levellingup.gov.uk  

How to respond:

You may respond by using our online survey.

All members of the public are invited to respond, along with organisations such as local authorities, representative bodies, communities, and businesses. Responses to some questions will require further information and you will be automatically directed. We are particularly interested in what these proposals would mean for you in your context.

We strongly encourage responses via the online survey. Using the online survey greatly assists our analysis of the responses, enabling more efficient and effective consideration of the issues raised for each question.

If you are providing a response, please refer to our privacy notice. If answering any questions using a free text box, please do not include any sensitive personal information in your answer. Please only respond to this consultation if you are over 18.

If you are unable to respond via the online survey, printed proformas can be requested from and returned to:

Consultation on contractual controls
FAO Melanie Montanari/Emma Fraser
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Housing Markets and Strategy Directorate
3rd Floor
Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Overview

1. This government is committed to improving the transparency of who owns and controls land in England and Wales. Anyone should, if they wish to, be able to find out not just who owns land, but who controls it.   People seeking to buy it also need to know who they are buying it from and there needs to be a way to identify people who have an interest in it.

2. Contractual controls that are used to control land short of outright ownership are a common feature of our land market and have a valuable purpose. They allow developers to secure land intended for development whilst they acquire the necessary permissions needed, reducing the risk of investing in land out right that may not be feasible to develop. These arrangements are extensively used by the major developers, sometimes acting as a blocker to communities and SMEs from securing land for development. 

3. Currently there is no legal requirement to provide information on these agreements, meaning it is impossible to gain a complete picture of matters affecting land which can act as a drag on development. We are now seeking to address this. The government’s ambition is that information on certain contractual control agreements is freely accessible and available. This will allow communities to find out more about where land is being brought forward for development, support developers to identify sites, and others to understand where and how land is under control.

4. The government has recently taken powers through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA 2023) to gather and publish information on contractual control agreements and now this consultation seeks views on the time, cost, and market implications of collecting and publishing information on contractual controls, as well as draft regulations.

Consultation

5. Part 11 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act contains powers to collect and publish information about contractual control agreements with the intention of providing greater transparency on contractual control agreements in England and Wales. When we refer to contractual controls, we are referring to agreements, such as option agreements, that are used to control land short of outright ownership. 

6. The regulations which the government plans to deliver under the Act seek to create a dataset comprising the ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘who’ and ‘when’ of contractual control agreements that will promote transparency by providing a reliable, and accessible source of information for communities, developers, and other stakeholders.

7. This consultation seeks views on the government’s plans to create a more transparent picture of contractual controls on land through a freely accessible dataset. Following the 2020 Call for Evidence, this consultation clarifies our rationale for this measure and seeks the views of individuals’, organisations and business on the time, cost, and market impact implications of collecting and publishing information about contractual control agreements.

Consultation objectives and strategic rationale

8. Developers and other actors will often enter into contractual control agreements (such as option agreements) which allow them to exert control over the future use and disposition of land. These contractual control agreements may be protected on land titles but are not currently recorded in an easily accessible or transparent way. What is more, while land and property transactions for registered land must be recorded at HM Land Registry, there is no legal requirement to record data on contractual control agreements. It is therefore impossible to gain a complete picture of where and how land is under control, short of outright ownership.

9. We propose to collect and publish a large dataset on contractual control agreement data, allowing  Property Technology (Prop Tech) companies (including third sector open data organisations, interest groups and researchers) to create user-friendly tools and applications that may reduce the time and cost of site identification and assessment by Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) and developers, and help communities and local authorities understand the likely path of development in their area.

10. The potential benefits of knowing what is being developed in the local area will differ between actors in the market. From our current analysis of likely impacts, we anticipate that the introduction of more transparent measures could have benefits across the market and for consumers which include:

The land market

a) Developers (including SMEs) who use contractual controls to secure pipelines of land to develop will have to provide information on the contractual controls they use. This will reveal how much land is covered by such agreements, in which locations, and for how long. Developers will be able to more easily identify land that is available, and the measures may facilitate more land being brought forward by greater transparency of which land is currently the subject of a contractual control agreement.

b) Landowners who enter into agreements with property developers or land promoters will have information on contractual control agreements which have been agreed over other land in their area.

Actors in the wider land market

c) Land promoters often use contractual controls to secure land whilst they undertake the necessary technical, planning and design work needed to secure planning permission for development. A transparent view on available land and current contractual control information may aid strategic development and purchasing.

d) Software companies (for example, property technology companies) are increasingly using government data to provide services in the sector such as geospatial mapping of land.  Publishing data on contractual controls will provide a trusted information source for data on contractual controls which will allow them to create tools and applications that may reduce the time and cost of site identification and assessment by local planning authorities (LPAs) and developers. Open data organisations, interest groups and researchers may also produce online tools using the data.

Communities and public bodies

e) Local authorities use data on availability of land to identify potential sites for development and allocate them in their local plan. The current opacity of available land can lead to sites being allocated that may be undeliverable in the timescales presented in local plans. Access to data about contractual controls over land may help inform targets on future availability of land that can be developed for residential purposes. This could be used to help local government plan for development. For example, it could make it easier for local planning authorities to understand who controls land, how it is under control and if it is likely to come forward for development, all of which could support the development of local plans.

f) Communities will benefit from being able to better understand likely developments coming forward through the planning process through more easily accessible data. When provided with the option to view data on the contractual controls in their area, it will give them an opportunity to shape proposals at an earlier stage with better understanding of the likely path of development in their area.

g) Central government, academia and researchers use data related to ownership, control and future development to identify trends and create an evidence base for future policy proposals and shape policy direction in this area.

About you

11. To help us group responses by different categories of respondent, please tell us a bit more about you.

Question 1. What is your name?

Question 2. What is your email address or mobile telephone number?

Question 3. Are you responding to this consultation as an individual or submitting a collective response from a group?

• individual
• collective response on behalf of a firm, charity, public body or other organisation

(3.1 - if responding on behalf of a firm, charity, public body or other organisation) What is your name or the name of your organisation / the group you are submitting a response for?

(3.2) If submitting a collective response) Please can you provide a summary of the people or organisations you represent and who else you have consulted to reach your responding conclusions?

Question 4. Type of respondent that best describes you.

• lawyer
• land promoter
• developer
• member of the public
• local authority
• surveyor
• land agent
• prop tech company (commercial)
• prop tech organisation (non-commercial)
• academic/researcher
• think tank
• interest/campaign group/political organisation
• other professional
• other – please state

(4.1 if developer) How many homes do you build on average per year?

• 0-100 homes
• 101-2000 homes
• 2001+ homes per year

(4.2 if developer) Which of these best describes you?

• commercial developer
• residential developer
• commercial and residential developer

(4.3 if Local authority) What is your role within your local authority?

• general
• planner
• development
• other – please state

Question 5. What is the first part of your postcode? If you are responding on behalf of a company or organisation, what is the first part of the postcode of the main office? [only provide first 4 characters]

Question 6. Are you more likely to be someone who provides or accesses the information, or both?

• provides (most likely developer, land promoter, conveyancer)
• accesses (most likely local authority, member of the public, interest group)
• both
• neither

Our proposed scope

12. We intend to capture information about contractual control agreements (such as option agreements) intended to secure land or property for residential, commercial or mixed-use development. Examples of these agreements could include:

i) Option agreements which grant the beneficiary the right to buy land within a specified period. There is no obligation to buy the land until the option has been exercised.

ii) Pre-emption agreements which entitle a potential buyer to a right of first refusal if, or when, the owner decides to sell the land. For example, a developer may take out a right of pre-emption on a parcel of land and should the landowner choose to sell, the developer has the first right of refusal.

iii) Conditional contracts which bind a party, such as a developer, to purchase land from the landowner once certain conditions have been met. 

iv) Promotion Agreements, which allow a developer or specialist land promoter to promote the land through the planning process, to secure planning permission for development and entitles them to payment of a fee once the land is sold (usually a percentage of the net sale proceeds once promotion costs are deducted).  Such agreements will usually regulate how a proprietor can dispose of the land during the period of the agreement. 

13. We intend that for a contractual control agreement to be in scope of these regulations, it must fulfil each of the following conditions: 

a) Be a contract in writing (of a type specified below) which is intended to facilitate the future development of an estate in land and is held for the purpose of an undertaking (which includes a business, a charity or similar endeavour and includes the exercises of functions of a public nature). The types of contracts in scope are: 

• an option that binds the proprietor of a registered estate in land to enter into a relevant disposition (‘relevant disposition’ means the transfer of a legal estate in land or the grant of a term of years absolute of a legal estate in land for a term of more than seven years from the date of the grant) or
• a contract that binds the proprietor of a registered estate in land to enter into a relevant disposition once specified conditions have been met, or
• a contractual right of pre-emption or any other contract that prevents the proprietor of a registered estate in land from making a relevant disposition of that estate or which regulates the circumstances in which the proprietor can do so.

and 

b) Relate to registered land. 

and

c) Subsist for 12 or more months from the requirement arising or which if it does terminate within 12 months, includes an entitlement for the grantee (typically a developer) to extend the agreement. 

and

d) Relate to

• a new agreement entered into after the commencement of the regulations or
• an existing agreement, entered into after 6 April 2021 or
• or an existing agreement entered into at any time which is varied in such a way that alters any of the required information or assigned after the date of commencement of the regulations.

and

 e) Not be an agreement made for the purposes of ‘national security’ or defence or be an agreement made to facilitate finance and loan agreements. It is proposed that these be exempt control agreements under the regulations, and therefore not in scope. 

Question 7. We are intending to collect contractual control information on registered land only. Do you think excluding unregistered land from scope would still allow us to achieve our policy objectives?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure

Please explain your choice

14. We are intending to collect contractual control information about relevant agreements whether or not they are protected by a notice or restriction at HM Land Registry.

15. A notice is an entry made in the register in respect of the burden of an interest affecting a registered estate or charge. A restriction is an entry in the register that prevents or regulates the making of an entry in the register in respect of any disposition or a disposition of a specified kind.

Question 8. Do you agree that we should collect contractual control information on agreements whether or not they are protected by a notice or restriction in order to achieve our policy objectives?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure

Please explain your choice

16. We have considered collecting information on other types of agreements which control land. These agreements have been removed from scope through research and user testing. These include:

17. Restrictive covenants – While restrictive covenants may sometimes be part of development transactions, they are generally used to restrict development rather than to facilitate the positive development of land. Information on restrictive covenants affecting registered land can also already be found on titles at HM Land Registry.

Question 9. Do you think that restrictive covenants should be included in scope to achieve our policy objectives?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure

Please explain your choice

18. We have considered collecting information on other types of agreements which control land. These agreements have been removed from scope through research and user testing. These include:

19. Overage and clawback agreements - These agreements oblige a purchaser of a property to make a further payment to its seller if certain conditions are satisfied (for example if the purchaser obtains or implements a planning permission or if the purchaser sells the property for a price above an agreed threshold each within an agreed period).

20. We do not believe such agreements should be in scope as they are a method of securing further payments rather than a form of control over land (notwithstanding that there may also be overage or clawback agreements which require payment to the landowner which are so costly that they may make the development of land unviable).

Question 10. Do you think that overage and clawback agreements should be included in scope to achieve our policy objectives?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure

Please explain your choice

21. Agreements made for the purposes of national security or defence and agreements made to facilitate and finance agreements will be exempt from the regulations.

Question 11. Should there be any other exemptions to the types of agreements we are aiming to capture?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure

Please explain your choice

Your own experience with Contractual Control Agreements

22. Thank you for completing that section. We will now ask you some questions about your own personal experience with contractual controls.

Question 12. Do you believe that you, or the organisation on whose behalf you are responding, hold, or have you ever held, a contractual control agreement that is within the scope described above?

• Yes
• No

If you responded ‘yes’ please answer the questions below. If you responded ‘no’ or ‘I am unsure’ please continue to the next section of the consultation ‘What information we intend to collect and publish’

(12.1) Approximately how many live contractual control agreements within scope do you or the organisation you are responding on behalf of currently hold?

• none
• 0-10
• 11-30
• 31-50
• 51-100
• 101+
• I am unsure or I do not wish to respond

(12.2) On average how many contractual control agreements within scope do you, or the organisation you are responding on behalf of, take out per year?

• 1-10
• 11-50
• 51-100
• 101-200
• 201-500
• 501-1000
• 1001+
• I am unsure or I do not wish to respond

(12.3) What proportion of the total number of notices and restrictions you register per year do you think are contractual controls that fall within scope?

• <10%
• 10-24%
• 25-50%
• 51-74%
• 75-90%

• 90%

• I am unsure

(12.4) What percentage of these contractual control agreements do you estimate apply to unregistered land?

• <10%
• 10-24%
• 25-50%
• 51-74%
• 75-90%

• 90%

• I am unsure or do not wish to respond

(12.5) What types of contractual control agreements do you hold? (Tick all that apply)

• Option
• Pre-emption agreement
• Conditional contract
• Other contractual rights (rights under a contract that prevent the proprietor of a registered estate in land from making a relevant disposition or which regulate the circumstances in which the proprietor can do). This includes land promotion, collaboration, and joint venture agreements.
• I am unsure or do not wish to respond

(12.6) What is the typical range of length of contractual control agreements you are holding?

• 0-1 year
• 2-3 years
• 4-5 years
• 5-10 years
• 11-20 years
• 20+ years
• It varies
• I am unsure or do not wish to respond

(12.7) How do you usually protect these agreements? (Tick all that apply)

• agreed notice with HMLR
• unilateral notice with HMLR
• restriction with HMLR
• land charge (for unregistered land)
• caution against first registration (for unregistered land)
• none of these – we rely on the legally binding contract
• I am unsure or do not wish to respond
• other – please expand.

(12.8) Do you engage a lawyer to assist with the terms of the agreement and provision of any information required to HMLR?

• always
• usually
• sometimes
• never

(12.9) Do your agreements have confidentiality provisions?

• always
• usually
• sometimes
• never

(12.10) If your agreements have confidentiality provisions, do they include exemptions for information which you are legally obliged to provide, for instance to public authorities?

• always
• usually
• sometimes
• never

The information we intend to collect and publish

23. In deciding on what information related to contractual controls we intend to collect and publish, we must balance the need for a transparent, detailed, and accessible data set that meets our policy objectives with minimizing the burden of providing unnecessary data.

24. We believe that the suggested data set below strikes the right balance between gathering enough information to improve transparency around who controls land, short of outright ownership, where, and for how long, without the requirement to provide overly commercially sensitive information or information that is not useful or relevant.

25. The proposed the data set that would be collected is provided in the table below.

Field as described by regulations	Description	Mandatory	Rationale	Data type
Agreement Type	Conditional contract, option agreement, pre-emption agreement, or “other” contractual rights.	Yes	Key information for understanding the prevalence of certain types of agreements.	Multiple options - one choice only
Contracting Parties (Grantees)	(Names) Could be firm/s or individual/s.	Yes	Key information on who has interest/control of the land.	Alphanumeric
Registration number of contracting parties (Grantees)	Companies House Number, Charity Commission registration number or equivalent.	Only if applicable	Allows for easy identification of relevant organisations if needed.	Alphanumeric Drop down for type of organisation.
Contracting parties (Grantors)	(Names) Could be firm/s or individuals.	Yes	Key information on who is involved in the agreement.	Alphanumeric
Registration number of contracting parties (Grantors)	Companies House Number, Charity Commission registration number or equivalent.	Only if applicable	Allows for easy identification of relevant organisations if needed.	Drop down for type of organisation.
The date the agreement was entered into.	The date a contract or deed was entered into and becomes effective or starts.	Yes	Gives a clear timeframe for the agreement and control over land when provided alongside length of agreement.	Date
Is there a fixed start date different from the date of the agreement?	Binary question.	Yes		Yes/No
End date	The day an agreement will expire (or be capable of termination) and not be unilaterally extendable (with an option for ‘in perpetuity, if applicable).	Yes	Supports forecasting for land control and use over time.	Date, or option for ‘in perpetuity’.
Territorial extent of agreement	Information on the territorial extent of the agreement. This may include a written description of the extent, if the agreement does not cover the whole extent of a title.	Yes	Provides information on extent of land under control.	Alphanumeric - long text field, best description from plan given in agreement.
HMLR title number[s]	The title number is a reference number attached to the land register for a particular parcel of land or property.	Yes	Links the agreement registered on the contractual controls database to the relevant entry on the land register.	Alphanumeric
Solicitor regulation authority (SRA) number or similar	Regulation authority numbers.	Yes (not published)	Allows for easy identification of relevant professionals involved in the agreement if needed for compliance purposes.	Alphanumeric
Details of any entitlement for the grantee to extend the agreement	Is the contract extendable and in what circumstances? What is the ultimate Long Stop Date?	Yes	Important for understanding the extent to which land may be under control. Improves evidence on average length of agreements and the number that are extendable.	Yes/No Alphabet if providing conditions.

Question 13. Do you wish to answer questions about the details of the information we propose to collect, as set out in this table?

• Yes
• No

If you responded ‘yes’ please answer the questions below. If you responded ‘no’ please continue on to the next section ‘Proposed process for providing and updating information about future contractual control agreements

(13.1) Do you think that the type of agreement should be collected and published?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

(13.2) Do you think that the name of the grantee (e.g. developer) for the agreement should be collected and published? 

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

(13.3) Do you think that, where applicable, the organisation registration number for the grantee should be collected and published? 

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer

(13.4) Do you think that the name of the grantor (e.g. landowner) for the agreement should be collected and published? 

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer

(13.5) Do you think that, where applicable, the organisation registration number for the grantor should be collected and published? 

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

(13.6) Do you think that the date the agreement is entered into should be collected and published? 

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

(13.7) Do you think that the length of the agreement should be collected and published? 

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

(13.8) Do you think that the territorial extent for the land involved in the agreement should be collected and published, if available? 

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please explain your answer

(13.9) Do you think that the HMLR title number associated with the land involved in the agreement should be collected?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

(13.10) Do you think that the SRA or similar numbers of the solicitors or conveyancers involved should be collected and published? 

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

(13.11) Do you think that whether the agreement is extendable should be collected and published?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

(13.12) Do you think any other information be collected and published?

• Yes
• No

Please explain your answer.

Proposed process for providing and updating information about future contractual controls.

26. Where parties enter into a new contractual control agreement from the date of commencement, the grantee (‘grantee’ in relation to a contractual control agreement means any person entitled under the agreement to acquire a relevant disposition or to enforce the provisions that prevent or regulate the proprietor of a legal estate in land from making a relevant disposition) will be required to provide information within 60 days of the contractual control agreement being entered into.

27. Where a party is applying for a notice or restriction to protect their interests and/or rights in respect of a contractual control agreement, they will be required to provide the required information about their agreement before they can register the notice or restriction. This is intended to provide a streamlined user experience by integrating as far as possible with existing systems and minimising steps needed to be taken by the user to provide this information.

28. Should parties choose not to register a notice or restriction, parties will still be required to provide the specified information to HM Land Registry within 60 days of the  contractual control agreement being entered into.

29. We propose that unless the Registrar directs otherwise, contractual control information is provided by a ‘conveyancer’ (conveyancer means a person authorised to deal with HM Land Registry as defined in Rule 217A Land Registration Rules 2003). This would provide assurance that the information is accurate, noting that it will require holders of contractual controls to instruct a conveyancer, which may incur legal fees.

Question 14. Do you think it is proportionate/feasible to require use of a conveyancer’s services to provide the information?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

Question 15. Would you be likely to apply to HMLR for a case-by-case exemption to provide the information without using a conveyancer?

• Yes
• No
• Not applicable
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

Question 16. Assisted digital is support for people who can’t use online government services on their own. The support can be someone guiding a user through the digital service or entering a user’s information into the digital service on their behalf. It can then be provided by the private, voluntary or public sectors. Would you be likely to apply to HMLR for a case-by-case exemption to provide the information through an assisted digital process?

• Yes
• No
• Not applicable
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer.

Question 17. If you are a conveyancer likely to be involved with providing the information to HMLR for future contractual controls how much time, on average, do you estimate it would take per contractual control   agreement to provide the information to HMLR?

• Under 10 minutes
• 11 -20 minutes
• 21 - 30 minutes
• 31 – 60 minutes
• More than 60 minutes – please state
• Not applicable – I am not a conveyancer

Question 18. We intend to require information be provided digitally through Digital Registration Service/Business Gateway to HM Land Registry, except where the registrar directs otherwise. Do you foresee any issues with this approach?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer and any potential issues you foresee.

Proposed process for collecting information about extant agreements which pre-date commencement of these regulations

30. Contractual controls can last for a significant period of time. We anticipate that gaining data about extant agreements would create a picture of current land controls to ensure that the benefits of transparency can be utilised as early as possible.

31. We propose to collect data on existing agreements entered into from 6 April 2021 (5 years before the expected commencement of the regulations). We also propose to collect data on extant agreements entered into at any time, if they are varied in such a way that alters any of the required information or are assigned from the commencement date of the regulations (expected 6 April 2026). In both instances, data needs to be provided within 60 days, as for any new agreements.

32. We propose that where an agreement does not subsist for 12 or more months from the requirement arising, or which if it does terminate within 12 months does not include an entitlement for the grantee to extend the agreement, are exempt from this measure. This will support the creation of a comprehensive dataset on existing controls, while recognising some are soon to expire.

33. Grantees will have a year to provide the data about extant agreements from the commencement date (6 April 2026), which marks the beginning of the transition period that will last 12 months and provides time for data about extant agreements to be collated and the dataset to build up before information is published.

34. We have considered the impact of the proposed timescales for providing information on customers and HMLR systems in the regulatory impact assessment published alongside this consultation. We are anticipating targeted communications with the conveyancing industry via regulated bodies to inform them of the new requirements.

Question 19. Are you a potential holder of agreements in scope?

• Yes
• No

If you responded ‘yes’ please answer the questions below. If you responded ‘no’ please continue to the next section ‘Keeping the information up to date’

(19.1) How long do you estimate it would take you to extract and provide the relevant information to HMLR for all existing contractual control agreements you currently hold in scope of this measure?

• less than 6 months
• the timeline stated in the overview is sufficient (1 year)
• 12 - 18 months
• 19 - 24 months

(19.2) - How long do you estimate it would take you to extract and provide the relevant information for each existing contractual control agreement?

• less than 30 minutes
• 31 – 60 minutes
• 61 – 90 minutes
• 91 – 120 minutes
• Over 2 hours – if over two hours please state how long.

(19.3) Do you think that communications through these routes would be likely to make you aware of your obligations?

• Yes
• No
• Maybe
• Not applicable

(19.4) Should any other routes of communication be undertaken? Please explain your answer.

(19.5) Do you foresee any unanticipated issues with this approach?

• No
• Unsure
• Yes

Please explain your answer.

(19.6) Do you think we should collect information on extant agreements entered into at any time, if they are varied in such a way which alters any of the required information or assigned from the commencement date of the regulations (expected April 2026)?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure

Please provide more information about your response

Keeping the information up to date

35. Thank you for completing the previous section. We will now ask you some questions about keeping information on contractual controls up to date.

36. Information on contractual controls will need to remain up to date and relevant to ensure that the public dataset can be relied upon.

37. Updated contractual control information will need to be provided to HM Land Registry within 60 days of an eligible contractual control agreement (including those entered into before 6 April 2021) in the following circumstances- assignment of the agreement, any variation in writing to a contractual control agreement that alters any of the required information and the termination or expiry of the whole or any part of the contractual control agreement.

Question 20. Do you think that 60 days to provide updated information to HMLR is reasonable and the correct length of time to ensure balance between time to comply and having updated information on the public dataset?

• Not enough time
• The correct amount of time
• Timeframe too long
• I am unsure

(20.1 if you responded with ‘not enough’ or ‘timeframe too long’) What do you think is a reasonable time frame for providing information on updated contractual control agreements?

• 1 week
• 2 weeks
• 1 month
• 3 months
• 6 months
• More than 6 months

Please explain the reasons for your selection.

How we plan to publish the information

38. We propose to publish structured data, in bulk, in a downloadable format using the same approach as existing HM Land Registry open data on GOV.UK - for example, in CSV files or similar. We anticipate that Property Technology companies will be able to access the data and incorporate it into existing (or new) tools and views.

39. In the future we may develop options to access the data in different ways according to user needs, for instance, through an API or searching by individual title.

40. We intend that all contractual control information will be compiled and organised into a data set and made public and freely available. 

41. We do not currently plan to collect or publish the underlying original agreement. We consider that the processes required to redact commercially sensitive information would significantly increase costs for HM Land Registry and those in scope of the regulations and would delay timelines of implementation.

Question 21. How do you currently try to access information on contractual control agreements? (Tick all that apply)

• PropTech software
• HMLR register of titles
• personal contacts
• local knowledge
• not applicable
• I am unsure
• other – please give details

Question 22. With the current systems in place, how easy is it to access and understand contractual control information on land?

• Extremely difficult
• Difficult
• Moderate
• Easy
• Very easy
• No opinion

Please explain the reasons for your selection

Question 23. With the new proposed systems change, how easy do you believe it will be to access and understand contractual control information?

• Extremely difficult
• Difficult
• Moderate
• Easy
• Very easy
• No opinion

Please explain the reasons for your selection

Question 24. Is publishing structured data in bulk spreadsheets (rather than, for instance, a redacted version of the original agreement) the correct approach?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure.

Please explain your answer

Question 25. Are you responding on behalf of an organisation that may use this dataset to develop new tools and services?

• Yes
• No

If you responded, ‘yes’ please answer the questions below, if you responded ‘no’ please continue to the next question ‘would you be a potential user of this data’.

(25.1)- How likely is it that you will integrate this data with your current system (if applicable)?

• Very
• Somewhat
• Somewhat unlikely
• Very unlikely
• Not applicable
• I am unsure

(25.2) How long would it take you to do so?

• 0-3 months
• 4-6 months
• 7-12 months
• 1-2 years
• 2+ years
• I am unsure

(25.3) How much would you charge for a tool or service to access the information in a user accessible form per annum?

• £0
• £0 - £100
• £101 - £500
• £501 - £1000
• £1001 - £2000
• £2001 - £5000
• £5001 +

Question 26. Would you be a potential end-user of this data?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

If you responded ‘yes’ please answer the questions below. If you responded ‘no’ or ‘I am unsure’ please continue to the next section ‘compliance’

(26.1) How useful would the data be to you in raw form (e.g. a large CSV file?)

• Extremely useful
• Somewhat useful
• Useful
• Somewhat not useful
• Extremely not useful
• I am unsure

Please explain the reasons for your selection

(26.2) Would you feel able to navigate a large spreadsheet file with potentially thousands of rows to find relevant information?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

(26.3) Do you already use Property Technology software?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

If yes, which?

(26.4) How much would you be willing to pay a Property Technology firm for a subscription to view the data in an accessible format per annum?

• £0
• £0 - £100
• £101 - £500
• £501 - £1000
• £1001 - £2000
• £2001 - £5000
• £5001 +

Compliance

42. If information regarding contractual control agreements is not provided, HM Land Registry will refuse to register a notice or restriction against the relevant title.

43. We expect professionals to comply with these requirements and we have criminal offences in place to dissuade those who may seek to avoid providing the required information. Someone may be fined or imprisoned if they fail, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement to provide relevant information or if they are found to have knowingly or recklessly provided information that is false or misleading.

44. Section 225 sets out the maximum penalties for the offences in Part 11 of the Levelling up and Regeneration Act. Section 225 offences carry the maximum summary penalties available in England and Wales for failure to comply with an information requirement, and up to 2 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine for knowingly or recklessly providing false information in response to an information requirement. These are equivalent to the penalties for similar information offences under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, the Land Registration Act 2002, and the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022.

45. Regarding transfers on a registered estate in a registered title, Rule 72 of the Land Registration Rules states that ‘entries relating to any rights, covenants, provisions and any other matters created by the transfer’ must be entered. We will create regulations to prevent the registration of a notice or restriction in respect of a contractual control agreement in such circumstances until the specified information is provided. We will not however prevent registration of the transfer of the estate.

46. There will also be standard data assurance process checks in place.

47. Guidance will be issued to support the implementation of the new data requirements:

• HMLR practice guidance will be a technical document aimed at legal professionals which will set out what information is to be collected, in what circumstances and how it should be provided.
• GOV.UK guidance will be a public-facing document explaining at a high level who is responsible under the new regulations for providing this information and what they should do next.
• We intend to publish guidance 6 months before commencement.

48. This guidance will help to:

1. Exemplify which agreements are in and out of scope of this measure, including examples.

2. Give clear examples of what information is to be collected and in what format.

3. Set out what is expected of grantees of contractual controls and legal professionals (or other professionals) acting on their behalf.

4. Give further clarity on penalties and defences for example, reasonable excuse

5. Guidance on compliance

Question 27. Do you think criminal offences and non-registration will be sufficient to ensure that information provided is complete and accurate?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please explain your answer

Question 28. What else should we do to ensure the information is provided in a timely and accurate way (if anything)?

Question 29. What other information would be useful to include in the guidance to successfully implement the new process into current practice?

Benefits and impacts

49. The potential benefits of knowing what is being developed in the local area will differ between actors in the market. From our current analysis of likely impacts, we anticipate that the introduction of more transparent measures could have benefits across the market and for consumers to include:

The land market

a. Developers (including SMEs) who use contractual controls to secure pipelines of land to develop will have to provide information on the contractual controls they use. This will reveal how much land is covered by such agreements, in which locations, and for how long. Developers will be able to more easily identify land that is available and the measures may facilitate more land being brought forward by greater transparency of who owns what.

b. Landowners who enter into agreements with property developers or land promoters will have information on other land in their area and the options that have been agreed.

Actors in the wider land market

c. Land promoters often use contractual controls to secure land whilst they undertake the necessary technical, planning and design work needed to secure planning permission for development. A transparent view on available land and current contractual control information may aid strategic development and purchasing.

d. Software companies (for example Property Technology companies) are increasingly using government data to provide services in the sector such as geospatial mapping of land.  Publishing data on contractual controls will provide a trusted information source for data on contractual controls which will allow them to create tools and applications that may reduce the time and cost of site identification and assessment by local planning authorities (LPAs) and developers. Open data organisations and researchers may also produce online tools using the data.

Communities and public bodies

e. Local authorities use data on availability of land to identify potential sites for development and allocate them in their local plan. The current opacity of available land can lead to sites being allocated that may be undeliverable in the timescales presented in local plans. Access to data about controls over land may help inform targets on future availability of land that can be developed for residential purposes. This can be used to help local government plan for development. For example, it could make it easier for local planning authorities to understand who controls land, how it is under control and if it is likely to come forward for development, all of which could support the development of local plans.

f. Communities will benefit from being able to better understand likely developments coming forward for planning permission through more easily accessible data. When provided with the option to view data on the land controls in their area, it will give them an opportunity to shape proposals at an earlier stage with better understanding of the likely path of development in their area.

g. Central government, academia and researchers use data related to ownership, control and future development to identify trends and create an evidence base for future policy proposals and shape policy direction in this area.

Question 30. Is our understanding of the potential benefits of the proposal, correct?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure

Please provide more information about your response

Question 31. Are there any further benefits that you anticipate would be seen from the proposed new measures?

• Yes
• No
• No opinion
• I am unsure

Please explain your answer and any further benefits

Question 32. Are you able to estimate the value of the benefits for you personally? (Tick all that apply)

• Saved cost of title fees
• Saved time due to dataset
• Increased information
• Increased knowledge of land in your area
• No / I am unsure
• Other

Please provide more information about your response and an estimated value of benefits if applicable.

Question 33. Do you have any views on whether small and/or micro businesses will be disproportionately affected by this legislation?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please explain your answer

Costs

50. We do not anticipate charging fees to provide or access the information but the requirement to provide the information through a conveyancer is likely to incur legal fees, estimated in the impact assessment at £226 per hour (in 2019 prices).

51. We estimate that the initial one-off familiarisation process will cost £4.8m in total (discounted and in 2019 prices), on the basis of estimated medium hourly wages of staff at land promoters, local planning authorities, developers and conveyancers and the estimated familiarisation time for each sector.  Of this, £4.5m is estimated to fall to the private sector, with the remaining £0.3m expected to fall on local authorities (including LPAs) (discounted and in 2019 prices).

52. This cost is expected to cover the time needed for individuals to familiarise themselves with the regulations, guidance and to participate in any training. Any anticipated costs to local authorities will be subject to a new burdens assessment. We have estimated the resource needed for familiarisation based on the following assumptions and calculations (see consultation impact assessment for further details):

Organisation	Number of staff at organisation affected	Time taken to familiarise (per person)	Hourly wage (figures in 2019 prices and uprated by 30% for overheads)
Local planning authority (LPA)	All planners at least partially employed by local planning authorities	1 hour	£24.54
Land promoters	1-4 staff per land promoter (midpoint 2.5)	1 hour	£21.63
Developers	1 member of staff per developer on average	1 hour	£27.48
Conveyancers (private and LAs)	All registered conveyancers (individuals)	Half a day (3.7 hours)	£30.93

Question 34. Are the estimated costs, assumptions and workings set out above and in the consultation stage impact assessment realistic?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please explain your answer

Question 35. Are there any other organisations who would need to familiarise themselves with the new legislation that we should include in this analysis?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please detail any other organisations

Question 36. Would there be any additional costs that would occur as a result of the regulations?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please detail additional costs that would occur as a result of these regulations

Unintended consequences

53. Potential unintended consequences have been considered. The impacts of these unintended consequences are uncertain, but we will monitor any such behavioural responses and consider whether any response is necessary. This consultation seeks to test our assumptions of what the potential unintended consequences may be as set out below.

a. Impact on land values - some stakeholders have speculated that the information may have either a positive or negative impact on land values by increasing competition or decreasing the desirability of land in scope. In the absence of reliable evidence either way, we would like to use the consultation to test this.

b. Pressure on landowners - landowners may feel pressure by communities who are able to see that they are entering into agreements related to land in their area. This could lead to landowners being hesitant to bring land forward for development. We will be testing the potential impact of this further in the consultation process.

c. Communities – while we believe that greater transparency over control of land will stimulate earlier, constructive engagement between developers and communities to shape proposals that have community support, there is a risk that those so inclined will have more time to prepare objections during the planning process, potentially slowing some development. This is an inevitable consequence of a better engaged and informed community. We would like to use the consultation to test these potential consequences further.

d. Developers and others - developers and others may choose to opt into different types of arrangements with landowners to avoid providing information on contractual controls. Developers may also decide to move to a model of buying more land outright, although we consider this unlikely given the implications for tying up capital. There may also be moves to longer option agreements in order to reduce the risk of an agreement lapsing unintentionally.

Question 37. Is our understanding on the potential unintended consequences of the proposal correct?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please explain your answer

Question 38. Would you (or someone holding contractual controls) expect to do anything differently in response to this legislation?

• Buy land outright.
• Enter longer contractual control agreements.
• Look for other types of development opportunities.
• Not allow contractual controls to be taken out on your land.
• Offer more money for contractual controls.
• Offer less money for contractual controls.
• Offer more money for land covered by a contractual controls.
• Offer less money for land covered by a contractual controls.
• No
• I am unsure
• Other

Please explain your selection

Question 39. Can you think of any other likely unintended consequences?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please detail any other possible consequences and your reasoning

Regulations

54. In line with the policy position outlined in this consultation we have developed draft regulations for the contractual control measure. The regulations build upon responses we received from the 2020 Call for evidence and further policy development.

55. We are publishing the regulations to invite technical and expert views on whether the draft regulations as defined are clear, precise and support the policy intent as set out in this consultation.

Question 40. (To note, this is not our final policy position. Points of detail are pending finalisation, and these are indicated in square brackets). Would you like to review the draft regulations?

• Yes
• No

If you responded ‘yes’ please review and answer questions below. If you responded ‘no’ please continue to ‘Public sector equality duty’)

Particular legal questions about the drafting of the regulations

56. In relation to a contractual control agreement, we define ‘grantee’ to be any person entitled under the agreement to acquire a relevant disposition or to enforce the provisions that prevent or regulate the proprietor of a legal estate in land from making a relevant disposition.

(40.1) Do you have any concerns on using this definition of ‘grantee’?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please explain your answer

57. The draft regulations set out the types of contracts in scope of this measure. One type of contract is “a contractual right of pre-emption or any other contract that prevents the proprietor of a legal estate in land from making a relevant disposition of that estate or which regulates the circumstances in which the proprietor can do so.”

(40.2) Do you have any concerns with the definition of this contract?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

 Please explain your answer

58. We intend to capture information about contractual control agreements (such as option agreements) intended to secure land or property for residential, commercial or mixed-use development. Examples of these agreements could include:

i) Option agreements which grant the beneficiary the right to buy land within a specified period. There is no obligation to buy the land until the option has been exercised.

ii) Pre-emption agreements which entitle a potential buyer to a right of first refusal if, or when, the owner decides to sell the land. For example, a developer may take out a right of pre-emption on a parcel of land and should the landowner choose to sell, the developer has the first right of refusal.

iii) Conditional contracts which bind a party, such as a developer, to purchase land from the landowner once certain conditions have been met. 

Iv) Promotion Agreements, which allow a developer or specialist land promoter to promote the land through the planning process, to secure planning permission for development and entitles them to payment of a fee once the land is sold (usually a percentage of the net sale proceeds once promotion costs are deducted).  Such agreements will usually regulate how a proprietor can dispose of the land during the period of the agreement. 

59. We intend that for a contractual control agreement to be in scope of these regulations, it must fulfil each of the following conditions: 

a) Be a contract in writing (of a type specified below) which is intended to facilitate the future development of an estate in land and is held for the purpose of an undertaking (which includes a business, a charity or similar endeavour and includes the exercises of functions of a public nature). The types of contracts in scope are: 

• an option that binds the proprietor of a registered estate in land to enter into a relevant disposition (‘relevant disposition’ means the transfer of a legal estate in land or the grant of a term of years absolute of a legal estate in land for a term of more than seven years from the date of the grant) or
• a contract that binds the proprietor of a registered estate in land to enter into a relevant disposition once specified conditions have been met, or
• a contractual right of pre-emption or any other contract that prevents the proprietor of a registered estate in land from making a relevant disposition of that estate or which regulates the circumstances in which the proprietor can do so.

and 

b) Relate to registered land. 

and

c) Subsist for 12 or more months from the requirement arising or which if it does terminate within 12 months, includes an entitlement for the grantee (typically a developer) to extend the agreement. 

and

d) Relate to

• a new agreement entered into after the commencement of the regulations or
• an existing agreement, entered into after 6 April 2021 or
• an existing agreement entered into at any time which is varied in such a way that alters any of the required information or assigned after the date of commencement of the regulations.

and

e) Not be an agreement made for the purposes of ‘national security’ or defence or be an agreement made to facilitate finance and loan agreements. It is proposed that these be exempt control agreements under the regulations, and therefore not in scope. 

(40.3) - Would collecting and publishing information about contractual control agreements according to these criteria capture the kind of agreements we are seeking?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

(40.4) - Would you have any concerns about the national security / defence exemption remaining as provisionally drafted in the final regulations?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please expand

(40.5) Would you have any concerns about the exemption of agreements made to facilitate finance and loan as provisionally drafted in the regulations?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please expand

(40.6) We are seeking to understand when agreements will expire (or be capable of termination) and details of whether an agreement is extendable. We have provisionally drafted this information requirement as ‘details of when the agreement will determine and details of any entitlement for the grantee to extend the agreement’. Do you have any concerns about how this information requirement is provisionally drafted in the regulations?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please expand

(40.7) Do you have any other comments regarding the draft regulations?

Public Sector Equality Duty

60. Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, the Government is required to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010;
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it, and
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

61. Below we have considered the potential impact this proposal may have on certain characteristics under the Public Sector Equalities Act 2010.

a. Accessibility – legislation needs to be complied with due to the consequences for non-compliance that have been granted in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, therefore accessibility of documents has been considered and deemed vital. GOV.UK has a variety of features for this including text size adjustments, printable/downloadable versions of forms and text to speech software if needed. When creating guidance and legislation, plain English will be used and the drafting of these documents will not assume a previous level of experience or knowledge in the area.

b. No adverse impact is anticipated on other protected characteristics.

Question 41. Do you think this characterisation of the impacts on those with protected characteristics is accurate?

• Yes
• No
• I am unsure

Please explain why

62. Do you want to be contacted in regards to your response?

Question 42. Are you happy to be contacted to discuss your response further if necessary?

• Yes
• No

About this consultation

This consultation document and consultation process have been planned to adhere to the Consultation Principles issued by the Cabinet Office.

Representative groups are asked to give a summary of the people and organisations they represent, and where relevant who else they have consulted in reaching their conclusions when they respond.

Information provided in response to this consultation may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and UK data protection legislation.  In certain circumstances this may therefore include personal data when required by law.

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, as a public authority, the Department is bound by the information access regimes and may therefore be obliged to disclose all or some of the information you provide. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will at all times process your personal data in accordance with UK data protection legislation and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties. A full privacy notice is included below.

Individual responses will not normally be acknowledged.

Your opinions are valuable to us. Thank you for taking the time to read this document and respond.

Are you satisfied that this consultation has followed the Consultation Principles?  If not or you have any other observations about how we can improve the process, please contact us via the complaints procedure.

Personal data

The following is to explain your rights and give you the information you are entitled to under UK data protection legislation.

Note that this section only refers to personal data (your name, contact details and any other information that relates to you or another identified or identifiable individual personally) not the content otherwise of your response to the consultation.

1. The identity of the data controller and contact details of our Data Protection Officer    

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is the data controller. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection@levellingup.gov.uk or by writing to the following address: Data Protection Officer, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Fry Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.    

2. Why we are collecting your personal data  

Your personal data is being collected as an essential part of the consultation process, so that we can contact you regarding your response and for statistical purposes. We may also use it to contact you about related matters.

We will collect your IP address if you complete a consultation online. We may use this to ensure that each person only completes a survey once. We will not use this data for any other purpose.

Sensitive types of personal data

Please do not share special category personal data or criminal offence data  if we have not asked for this unless absolutely necessary for the purposes of your consultation response. By ‘special category personal data’, we mean information about a living individual’s:

• race
• ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• trade union membership
• genetics
• biometrics 
• health (including disability-related information)
• sex life; or
• sexual orientation.

By ‘criminal offence data’, we mean information relating to a living individual’s criminal convictions or offences or related security measures.

3. Our legal basis for processing your personal data

The collection of your personal data is lawful under article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation as it is necessary for the performance by DLUHC of a task in the public interest/in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller.  Section 8(d) of the Data Protection Act 2018 states that this will include processing of personal data that is necessary for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department i.e. in this case a consultation.

Where necessary for the purposes of this consultation, our lawful basis for the processing of any special category personal data or ‘criminal offence’ data (terms explained under ‘Sensitive Types of Data’) which you submit in response to this consultation is as follows. The relevant lawful basis for the processing of special category personal data is Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR (‘substantial public interest’), and Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘statutory etc and government purposes’). The relevant lawful basis in relation to personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences data is likewise provided by Schedule 1 paragraph 6 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

4. With whom we will be sharing your personal data

We will not share your personal data with organisations outside of DLUHC and its Arms Length Bodies (such as HM Land Registry) without contacting you for your permission first.

DLUHC may appoint a ‘data processor’, acting on behalf of the Department and under our instruction, to help analyse the responses to this consultation.  Where we do we will ensure that the processing of your personal data remains in strict accordance with the requirements of the data protection legislation.

5. For how long we will keep your personal data, or criteria used to determine the retention period.

Your personal data will be held for 2 years from the closure of the consultation, unless we identify that its continued retention is unnecessary before that point.

6. Your rights, e.g. access, rectification, restriction, objection

The data we are collecting is your personal data, and you have considerable say over what happens to it. You have the right:

a. to see what data we have about you

b. to ask us to stop using your data, but keep it on record

c. to ask to have your data corrected if it is incorrect or incomplete

d. to object to our use of your personal data in certain circumstances

e. to lodge a complaint with the independent Information Commissioner (ICO) if you think we are not handling your data fairly or in accordance with the law.  You can contact the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/, or telephone 0303 123 1113.

Please contact us at the following address if you wish to exercise the rights listed above, except the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO: dataprotection@levellingup.gov.uk or Knowledge and Information Access Team, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Fry Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.

7. Your personal data will not be sent overseas.

8. Your personal data will not be used for any automated decision making.

9. Your personal data will be stored in a secure government IT system.

We use a third-party system, Citizen Space, to collect consultation responses. In the first instance your personal data will be stored on their secure UK-based server. Your personal data will be transferred to our secure government IT system as soon as possible, and it will be stored there for 2 years before it is deleted.