In his career as a club coach, Lancaster oversaw Leeds' promotion to the Premiership before they were relegated in 2008, shortly before he left the club to join the Rugby Football Union as head of elite player development.
Media reports on Friday suggested England's leading clubs are considering expanding the top flight Premiership from 12 to 14 from 2016 and scrapping relegation in the biggest development in the British club game since the sport went professional.
Leagues were introduced in 1987 and have always featured promotion and relegation, though in recent years most promoted clubs have struggled to gain a foothold.
London Welsh have lost all of their games this season, most of them heavily, though Exeter have established themselves as a Premiership club after going up in 2010.
Lancaster was not keen to address the issue on Friday when facing the media to discuss his England team to play Ireland on Sunday but eventually gave some guarded comments that appeared to be firmly against such a change.
"I’m sure my opinion will be asked and I guess I’ve seen it from all ends and I can see it from a player development point of view," he said.
"I’ve been at a club that has been promoted and relegated, and live within a county... so I understand how it feels," he added in reference to former club Leeds, who now operate under the name Yorkshire Carnegie.
"As the national coach now, I know the implications it would have on the national team and the structure of rugby within this country."
Lancaster said any change would be unlikely to have much impact on the 2019 World Cup in Japan but could affect the next tournament and the “heads of agreement” deal that establishes the cooperation rules between clubs and the national team.
"I should be sat here now pretty much being able to tell you what the likely squad is going to be for 2019," said the coach, who prides himself on tracking the progress of players through all the age grades.
"But it’s more about 2023 because the next heads of agreement is from June 2016 to June 2024, it’s an eight-year deal, so it will have implications beyond 2019."
(Editing by Ken Ferris)
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