UK Trust Register Changes 2026: Privacy Loophole Closing

UK trust register changes landing this summer will strip away a layer of privacy that has quietly protected thousands of trusts holding British property. Two sets of draft regulations, now grinding through Parliament, widen public access to who really sits behind those trusts. If you hold UK land through an offshore structure, the rules of the game just shifted under your feet.

LONDON, United Kingdom — 19 June 2026

The changes touch two separate registers. The first is the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE), run by Companies House since August 2022 to capture foreign entities that own or buy UK land. The second is the Trust Registration Service (TRS), where HMRC collects details on trustees, settlors, and beneficiaries of many UK and non-UK express trusts. Both are being rewired in the same direction: more disclosure, fewer places to hide.

Draft regulations for the ROE were laid before Parliament on 22 April 2026. The TRS amendments were laid on 26 March 2026. The TRS provisions are expected to come into force in late June or early July 2026, which is to say, any day now.

What the UK trust register changes actually do

Let’s be blunt. The old system had a built-in privacy buffer, and the government is removing it on purpose. Under the current ROE rules, a member of the public could already apply to see trust information, but only since 31 August 2025, and only if they could name the specific trust. The trust name is not published anywhere on the register. That single requirement acted as a wall against fishing expeditions.

The new draft regulations knock that wall down. Once they pass, anyone could apply for trust information using only the overseas entity’s name and ID number, both of which are public on Companies House. That is a significant shift. It moves trust disclosure from “you need to already know what you’re looking for” to “start digging and see what falls out.”

Two smaller ROE tweaks ride alongside it. Companies House will be able to release trust information that does not concern a minor, where previously the presence of a child’s data caused the whole trust record to be suppressed. And the evidence bar for protection applications, the formal route to keep a residential address private, is being eased in one respect while the class of people who can apply appears to narrow in another.

The TRS shake-up hits non-UK trusts holding UK land

The Trust Registration Service piece is where owners of offshore company structures holding British real estate should pay close attention. The TRS already forces trustees of many express trusts to file beneficial ownership details with HMRC. The 2026 amendments stretch that net and open the data wider.

Here’s the kicker. Non-UK express trusts that bought an interest in UK land before 6 October 2020 were previously off the hook. Under the new rules they must register, with a deadline of 1 September 2027 for those still holding the property. More than that, all non-UK express trusts holding UK land are being pulled into the TRS data-sharing rules, meaning their information becomes available to the public on request, subject to a legitimate interest test. And if the non-UK trust controls a company outside the UK and the EU, a person can simply make a written request to see the information. No legitimate interest test at all.

The package is not all bad news for smaller setups. A de minimis exemption now lets certain low-value trusts deregister entirely, and the government has made it retrospective so existing trusts can use it. Stamp Duty Reserve Tax also drops off the list of taxes that drag a trust into TRS registration. The point of these UK trust register changes is to focus scrutiny on substantial cross-border structures, not modest family arrangements.

Why this matters beyond Britain

This is not an isolated British quirk. It is the same transparency wave washing across every credible jurisdiction. We have watched beneficial ownership registers tighten in Panama, seen the Swiss transparency register expand, and tracked how the Common Reporting Standard keeps pulling more data into automatic exchange. The UK trust register changes are simply the latest brick out of the privacy wall.

The lesson is the same one we keep repeating. Secrecy is dead as a strategy. What still works is legitimate structure built on solid asset protection strategies, the kind that hold up because they are lawful, properly reported, and sited in the right place. A Liechtenstein trust or a well-run offshore company is not about hiding. It is about putting a clean, defensible wall between your assets and the people who would like to take them.

The direction of travel could not be clearer. The clock is ticking on any structure that leaned on a quiet register to stay out of view. The smart response is not panic, it is design. Get your UK-facing structures reviewed, file protections where they help, and make sure any new holding vehicle is built to survive full daylight. For more on this shift, read our coverage of BVI economic substance rules and the wider transparency drive across United Kingdom structures.