Trust Registration Service: expanded registration requirement for non-UK trusts owning UK land and other changes

Expanded registration requirements for non-UK trusts that own UK land were recently introduced by the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2026, and took effect from 30 June 2026.

What is changing?

Under the new 2026 regulations, the trustees of non-UK express trusts that are not otherwise within the scope of the requirement to register on the UK's register of trusts (the Trust Registration Service (TRS)), are now required to register if they acquired UK land prior to 6 October 2020 and continued to own it as at 30 June 2026. 

Under previous regulations, such non-UK trusts were only required to register if they acquired UK land on or after 6 October 2020.  This obligation continues.

Trustees who may be caught by the new rule have until 1 September 2027 to register their trust. However, the relevant HMRC guidance (Check if you need to register a trust - GOV.UK) states that “the Trust Registration Service currently will not let you register these trusts”  and that HMRC will provide an update when registration becomes available.

In the meantime, trustees of non-UK trusts that are not already registered on the TRS, should use this opportunity to consider whether they will be required to do so under the new rules, and also to check whether they were already within the scope of the TRS under the pre-30 June 2026 rules. In this case, they should register as soon as possible in order to avoid a financial penalty.  

HMRC may charge a penalty of £5,000 for failure to register a registrable trust, but its guidance indicates that it will only do so if it becomes aware of a failure to register and a warning letter to the trustees requesting them to do so is ignored. 

Which trusts were subject to the requirement to register under the pre-30 June 2026 rules?

In 2017, following the implementation in the UK of the EU's 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, an obligation was introduced for trustees of UK or non-UK trusts with a liability to one or more specified UK taxes (taxable relevant trusts) to register their trust on the TRS.  This obligation continues and the relevant taxes are as follows: 

• capital gains tax (CGT);
• income tax;
• inheritance tax;
• SDLT (or LBTT in Scotland or LTT in Wales).

Previously, Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) was included as one of the taxes that triggered the requirement to register, but this has been changed by the new regulations, so that a requirement to pay SDRT will not result in a trust becoming a registrable taxable trust.

In 2020, the UK implemented the EU's 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which extended the scope of the TRS.  The requirement to register was extended to the following classes of trust:

• Type A trusts: UK resident express trusts that are not registered in the EEA, unless expressly excluded;
• Type B trusts: non-UK resident express trusts that have at least one UK resident trustee, and the trustees of which, on or after 6 October 2020:
  • enter into a business relationship with a UK relevant person that has an element of duration (for example, lasts or is likely to last for at least 12 months), or
  • acquire an interest in UK land;
• Type C trusts: non-UK resident express trusts that acquire an interest in UK land on or after 6 October 2020, that do not have a UK resident trustee. 

Types B and C are now expanding to include trusts that acquired property before 6 October 2020 and continued to hold it on 30 June 2026.

What is an express trust?

The meaning of "express trust" is not defined in the rules.  However, in guidance, HMRC have indicated that an express trust is one created deliberately by a settlor, usually in the form of a document such as a written deed or declaration of trust. 

Such a trust can be created either to take effect during the settlor’s lifetime, or by will, to take effect on death.  It can include bare trusts and nominee arrangements, as well as certain investment structures, including unauthorised unit trusts, such as Jersey Property Unit Trusts (JPUTs) and Guernsey Property Unit Trusts (GPUTs).  

Trustees should check the rules or take advice to determine whether their trust would fall within the definition of an express trust and, if so, whether it may nevertheless be of a type that is expressly excluded under the regulations.  

What other changes relevant to trusts are being introduced? 

Access to information - the new regulations make a number of additional changes of varying significance.  Of most relevance to trusts is the application to Type C trusts of the right to access information regarding a trust without demonstrating a legitimate interest in its beneficial ownership - previously, access to such information was restricted to Types A and B trusts.  

The right to access information without demonstrating a legitimate interest in the trust's beneficial ownership continues to be restricted to trusts where the trustees have a controlling interest in a third country entity, and a person making such a request must make it in writing to HMRC.   

De minimis exemption - an exemption from the requirement to register has been added for trusts which: 

• do not hold any interest in land in the UK;
• do not hold assets of “appreciable worth” (i.e. art, antiques, collectibles, jewellery and other non-financial assets that may increase in value over time), with a value exceeding £2,000 in total;
• have not held property with a cumulative total value exceeding £10,000 since the trust was created; and
• do not have an income exceeding £5,000 per annum.

This exemption does not apply where the settlor has, during their lifetime, created one or more other express UK trusts, one of which is or was an excluded trust under this new provision.

What now?

If you are the settlor or trustee, either of a trust that may be affected by the new rules, or one that was already registrable under the pre-existing rules but was not so registered, please get in touch with a member of our Private Wealth team or with your usual Howard Kennedy contact.  We will be able to review your trust with you, and determine what action, if any, is required either now or before the 1 September 2027 deadline.

Nothing in this client note constitutes legal advice to any person.