There are around 550,000 hectares of registered common land in England and Wales – 4% of the total land area in England and Wales. The Commons Act 2006 aims to protect these areas of common land, in a sustainable manner delivering benefits for farming, public access and biodiversity.

Latest news

• December 2011: Further implementation of the register provisions in Part 1 of the Commons Act 2006 planned from April 2013.

What does the Commons Act 2006 do?

• The Act enables commons to be managed more sustainably by commoners and landowners working together through commons councils, with powers to regulate grazing and other agricultural activities.
• It provides better protection for common land and greens. This includes reinforcing existing protections against abuse, encroachment and unauthorized development. It recognizes that the protection of common land has to be proportionate to the harm caused and that some specified works can be carried out without the need for consent.
• Part 1 of the Act requires commons registration authorities to bring their registers up-to-date by recording past changes affecting the registers during a ‘transitional period’, and to keep the registers up-to-date by recording new changes affecting the registers. Commons registration authorities will have new powers to correct many of the mistakes in the registers.
• The Act sets out new, clearer criteria for the registration of town or village greens.
• The Act prohibits the severance of common rights, preventing commoners from selling, leasing or letting their rights away from the property to which rights are attached.

Implementation updates

The Common Land team sends out regular emails to all stakeholders, updating them on recent implementation progresses. Read the latest implementation update.

• Implementation update 19 – October 2010 (PDF)

Commencement Orders

Most provisions of the Commons Act 2006 (sections 1-8 and 10-53, and Schedules 2-6) are to be brought into force by order made by the Secretary of State in relation to England, or by the National Assembly for Wales in relation to Wales.

• Commencement order no. 6 brings into force consequential amendments in Schedule 5 to the Commons Act 2006, which relate to the implementation of Part 1 of the Act
• Commencement order number 1 (England and Wales) brings into force certain repeals in the Commons Act 2006 as regards the Commons Registration Act 1965, so as to abolish the system of provisional registration, and the determination of provisional registrations by the Commons Commissioners.  The commencement order also abolishes the office of the Commons Commissioners, by repealing provision for the Commissioners in the 1965 Act.
• Commencement order no. 5 brings into force Part 2 of the Act which provides for the establishment of commons councils, their status and constitution, and their functions, together with supplementary provisions.
• Commencement order no. 4 brings into force Part 1 of the Act in relation to seven pilot registration authority areas in England, together with section 46 of the Act throughout England, with effect from 1 October 2008.
• Commencement order no. 3 brings into force sections 16 and 17 and part 3 of the Act, and other ancillary provisions, with effect from 1 October 2007.
• Commencement order no. 2 brings into force sections 4, 5, 15 and 24 of the Act, and other ancillary provisions.
• Commencement order no. 1 brings into force a partial repeal of section 13(a) of the Commons Registration Act 1965, sections 45, 51 and paragraph 6 of Schedule 4 of the Act.

Database of registered common land in England

A database of registered common land in England is available online (Excel 7MB).

National common land stakeholder group

The National Common Land Stakeholder Group advises Defra on matters relating to the management of commons and particularly on the implementation of the Commons Act.