- The previous government was in the process of enacting regulations to enable the public to access information about trusts which is held by Companies House on the Register of Overseas Entities (which relates to non-UK legal entities that own UK land), and consulted on widening public access to trust information in general.
- These would have enabled members of the public to access information about trusts on the making of a successful application to Companies House.
- The previous government consulted on whether all or some of the information Companies House holds about trusts should be publicly available by default (i.e. without an application needing to be made).
- The previous government also considered broadening public access to information the government holds about other types of trust - i.e. which are not associated with an entity listed on the Register of Overseas Entities. The spectrum of public access considered ranged from retaining the current system to making all information collected about trusts public by default. Alternatively, consideration was given to increasing public access to information about trusts that own UK land – perhaps just non-UK or perhaps both UK and non-UK trusts. Some trusts are required to register with HMRC using the Trust Registration Service, and the government was considering broadening the legitimate interest test that applies to this register, to increase the extent to which the public can access trust information.
- Timing: the Regulations that are in progress will come into force once the Secretary of State specifies a date for this to occur. The consultation closed on 21 February 2024. The previous government did not specify a date for any further changes to take effect. It is not clear whether the current government is considering the outstanding issues.
Resources (click to open)
- Transparency of land ownership involving trusts consultation (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Department for Business and Trade, HM Treasury, and HMRC, closed 21 February 2024)
