Overview
- The Competition and Markets Authority provisionally extended the Controlled Land Order on Thursday to designate Aldi, Lidl GB and Lidl NI as large grocery retailers subject to the same land-use limits as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and others.
- The Controlled Land Order bars supermarkets from using restrictive covenants and exclusivity arrangements in site agreements that can prevent rival stores from opening close by, so the change targets what the CMA calls ‘landblocking’.
- Aldi and Lidl were previously excluded as ‘limited assortment discounters’ but rapid growth put them among the UK’s biggest grocers, with Worldpanel by Numerator showing Aldi at about 10.5% market share and Lidl about 8.6%.
- Major incumbents including Morrisons, Waitrose and Iceland welcomed the move in letters to the CMA that said the old rules let the discounters use problematic land arrangements at scale, while Aldi and Lidl say they will comply and press on with planned rollouts and long‑term store targets.
- The decision is provisional after a public consultation and allows the CMA to review existing agreements on request, so the rule change could reshape how future site deals are written and influence where new supermarkets open.