New UK legislation to impact Irish entities with UK land interests

The UK has recently introduced a broad sweep of new measures designed to combat international crime, which will potentially impact on Irish entities with UK land interests.

The rules were introduced under the UK Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. In short, the rules require that all non-UK entities, including Irish companies, wishing to transfer, lease or charge UK land must register with the Companies House in the UK, and disclose details concerning their ‘registrable beneficial owners’ or managing officers. The information contained on the register will be publicly accessible, except for certain personal details. Entities that do not comply with these new rules face sanctions, including restrictions on buying, selling, transferring, leasing or charging their UK real estate.

The new measures apply retrospectively to Irish companies which acquired land interests in England or Wales on or after 1 January 1999, or in Scotland on or after 8 December 2014. These companies have until 31 January 2023 to comply. Irish companies only need to register Northern Ireland land interests acquired on or after 1 August 2022. The Register of Overseas Entitles opened on 1 August 2022 and the new HM Land Registry requirements take effect from 5 September 2022. The UK government has issued official guidance on the new regime and has confirmed that it is developing more guidance for overseas entities. It is important to note that there is a range of criminal offences for breach of the new provisions.

If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of our ByrneWallace Tax Advisors team.