Non-UK trusts holding UK land – new requirement to register on the Trust Registration Service where land acquired before 6 October 2020

Several amendments to HMRC’s Trust Registration Service (TRS) came into force on 30 June, as a result of The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2026. This includes a significant expansion to the registration trigger for non-UK non-taxable express trusts which hold UK land. Trustees should review any trusts which hold UK land to:

1. check whether trusts have already been registered under the previous rules;
2. check whether trusts will now become registerable under the amended rules; 
3. make preparations to ensure that trusts registerable as a consequence of the new rules are registered on the TRS by the relevant deadline; and
4. prepare internal policies for ensuring that trust information is kept up-to-date, as required by the Money Laundering Regulations.

Trusts within scope of the TRS include bare trusts and offshore unit trusts. Corporate groups, funds and partnerships which hold UK land via such structures and via nominees should consider whether TRS registration is now required.

What has changed?

Under the previous registration requirements for express non-taxable trusts, non-UK trusts holding UK land were required to register only if the UK land was acquired by the trustees on or after 6 October 2020 (subject to no other reporting triggers being met). This meant that a large number of non-UK trusts holding UK land fell outside the requirement to register.

The Regulations have now removed this limitation so that non-UK trusts holding UK land as of 30 June 2026 will be required to register, irrespective of when the UK land was acquired. In practice, this change means that there will be a registration requirement for most non-UK trusts holding UK land (subject to narrow exemptions). 

There are, of course, a large number of other triggers for registration, which remain in force, subject to the minor updates set out under Other amendments below. Note that, whilst there is no specific requirement relating to UK trusts holding UK land, such trusts will generally be required to register under the general registration trigger for UK trusts. Whether a trust is a UK or non-UK trust depends on a number of factors including the residence of the trustees. A trust with only UK trustees will be a UK trust; trusts with a mix of UK and non-UK resident trustees can be either UK or non-UK trusts, depending on other factors.

Deadline and method for registration

The deadline for registering an express non-UK trust which is now registerable because it holds UK land which was acquired before 6 October 2020 is 1 September 2027. HMRC has updated its guidance (available here) to advise that the TRS online service will not currently allow such trusts to register, but that this will be updated at a later date.

Penalties

Failure to register a trust with the TRS can result in a fixed penalty of £5,000. HMRC’s current guidance suggests that penalties will generally only be issued if the trustee is warned by HMRC that it is required to register and still fails to do so within the time limit set. This is in recognition of the TRS being a fairly new registration regime. 

Other amendments

 Other amendments made by the Regulations include:

• A de minimis exemption from registration for trusts which:
  • do not hold any interest in UK land;
  • do not hold assets of “appreciable worth” with a value exceeding £2,000;
  • have not held property with a cumulative total value exceeding £10,000 since the trust’s creation; and 
  • do not have an income exceeding £5,000 per annum.
• Changes in relation to deadlines for registering trusts created on death;
• An exemption for Scottish survivorship trusts; and
• That a liability to Stamp Duty Reserve Tax will no longer trigger a requirement for registration under the rules for taxable trusts.

Please contact your usual CMS contact or the listed key contacts should you wish to discuss these developments further.

Co-authored with the assistance of Antonio Burcus, a trainee in CMS London.