Competition Over Land Agreements

From 6 April 2011, land agreements will become subject to the UK competition rules prohibiting anti-competitive agreements ("the Chapter 1 Prohibition"). What's more, the prohibition will apply to agreements whether they were entered into before or after this date.

A land agreement is essentially any agreement between undertakings which creates, alters, transfers or terminates an interest in land, or an agreement to enter into such an agreement. Until now, such agreements have been specifically exempt from the Chapter 1 Prohibition, but the decision has been taken to revoke this exemption with effect from April of next year.

In effect, parties to a land agreement will now need to consider whether the agreement (or any part of it) prevents, restricts or distorts competition in the UK.