Chapter 1: Nature of Land Flashcards
- Introduction to Land Law
1.1 The importance of land
In society, the ownership of land has a special place owing to land’s permanence in an otherwise
uncertain world and its high economic and social value throughout the history of mankind.
Land is a uniquely fixed resource that can neither be consumed nor produced, moved nor physically lost. Land is everywhere – we rely on land to live, work and sustain ourselves; a piece of land is often the most valuable asset an individual will buy.
English law therefore draws a distinction between:
- The rules that apply to land (real property); and
- The rules that apply to every other type of property eg cars, books, televisions, copyright, shares (personal property).
1.2 History of land ownership
Land law has evolved from the Norman Conquest in 1066, which introduced the rule that all land
in England and Wales belongs to the Crown as sovereign. This rule is still valid today. This means that, when we use everyday language and say that we ‘own’ a piece of land today,
we are technically incorrect. To be accurate, what we own is a right in the land, one of the most powerful being the right to possess and use the land. The focus of land law is therefore the rights that exist over land, rather than the physical land
itself. Modern land law is the study of proprietary (also called property) rights in the la, the transfer of
land and the responsibilities and duties in land related relationships.
1.3 Key legislation
Land law was radically overhauled by a statute called the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA). This is the reason that the majority of land law has its roots in statute rather than case law. The LPA 1925 is the real foundation of modern land law. The other key piece of legislation is the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA), which governs the
system of land registration, a national record of land ownership in England and Wales. The national record of land ownership is managed by HM Land Registry, a government
department
1.4 Summary
- A piece of land is often the most valuable asset an individual or company will own. The rules
that govern land ownership, the transfer of land, and land-related relationships are ‘land law’. - Land law is one branch of the wider discipline of property law.
- Land law is the study of rights over the land, rather than the land itself. This has historical roots
dating back to the Norman Conquest of 1066. - Modern land law has its roots in statute. The key pieces of legislation you will encounter are the
LPA 1925 and the LRA 2002.
2 Proprietary rights in land
2.1 Rights in land
Land law is the study of rights in the land rather than the physical land itself.
A right which relates to the land can either be proprietary or personal in nature.
The distinction between proprietary and personal rights is important in the context of:
* The remedy available to someone who is deprived of their right; and
* The enforceability of the right against third parties.
Third party
A third party in the context of land law is a new owner of the land burdened by the right.
Proprietary rights
A proprietary right in land (also sometimes referred to as a property right) can be enforced by an action in rem, meaning that use or possession of the land can be recovered. The holder of the right does not have to settle for damages if they are deprived of their right. A proprietary right is also capable of being enforced against a third party.
Personal rights
A personal right in land can only be enforced by a personal action for
damages if the right is breached. Use (or occupation) of the right cannot be recovered. Personal rights will bind only the original parties to the right, there can be no recourse against
a third party. A frequently encountered example of a personal right in land is a licence.
Distinguish a proprietary right in land from a personal one
It is important to be able to distinguish a proprietary right in land from a personal one. Whether a
disputed right is capable of being recovered and enforced against a new owner of the burdened
land will depend upon determining this point. If you are currently sitting using the law library at university then you have a right to be there – is
this a proprietary right over the land or just a personal one?
How do you tell whether a right exercised over land is a proprietary one or not?
There is a fixed list of the rights which are capable of being proprietary. This list is (unfortunately!) not written definitively anywhere, rather there are a number of statutory sections and case law judgments which together inform us of the rights that have proprietary status. Therefore, some rights over the land will never be proprietary in nature; they will only operate as a personal
permission.
Example: Personal right in land
A postal worker crossing your land to deliver post will never have a proprietary right in your land,
nor are they a trespasser. The postal worker has a licence (a personal right) to cross your land for the purpose of delivering the post.
2.2 Rights that have proprietary status
The rights that are on the ‘fixed list’ of rights that have proprietary status are:
* The freehold estate
* The leasehold estate
* An easement
* A mortgage
* A restrictive covenant
* An estate contract
* A beneficial interest in a trust of land
The holder of a proprietary right in the land will have a right to occupy or use or restrict what can be done on the burdened land in some way.
2.3 Is a right proprietary or personal?
Just because a particular use of land has been recognised as having proprietary status (ie is on
the fixed list) it does not mean that the actual right under consideration will have proprietary status. Land law is all about looking at the nature, creation and protection of rights in land to determine if they are proprietary or personal in the circumstances.
Example: Determining the status of the right
A right to park a car in a neighbour’s garage may be an easement, which is a right that has proprietary status. However, the ability to park a car in a neighbour’s garage is not always going to be an easement. Essentially, the same use could be either proprietary or personal, depending
upon the circumstances in which it has arisen. So even if the use in question has been recognised
as proprietary whether it is in fact proprietary will depend upon other factors.
2.3.1 The nature of a right
For a right in question to have proprietary status it may need to satisfy certain substantive (definitional) characteristics. These substantive characteristics differ depending upon the right in
question
Example: Substantive characteristics
A right to park in a neighbour’s garage could be an easement, but if the neighbour is locked out of
the garage and unable to use it, then it will not be an easement as this is not tolerated within the definition of an easement.
2.3.2 The creation of a right
Substantive characteristics alone may be enough to work out whether the right in question is proprietary although usually we will have to look further and examine the issue of formalities. Most proprietary rights in land are subject to strict requirements as to the formalities for their acquisition/creation. Compliance, or otherwise, with such formalities may ultimately determine
whether the right is proprietary or not.
Formalities
Formalities in land law are the rules procedure that must be observed in order to validly create or transfer a proprietary right. Given their powerful nature, there is often a high
degree of formality that must be met in order to transfer or create a proprietary right in the land. The formalities differ depending upon the right in question.
2.3.3 The protection of a right
How do you find out if a piece of land is subject to a proprietary right?
An obvious characteristic of proprietary rights is their invisibility – you cannot see a mortgage or
an easement or a lease when you look at a piece of land. In order to minimise this risk to a purchaser, while at the same time protecting those holding a proprietary right in the land, systems have been developed by which proprietary rights in land must be made apparent by registration if they are to bind a purchaser of subsequent rights in the same land.
Example: A proprietary right
A person has a right of way over their neighbour’s back yard. This right of way could be an easement, which is a recognised proprietary right in the land – it is on the fixed list of rights
recognised as having proprietary status. Whether the right of way will be an easement depends on whether the right in question satisfies
the substantive requirements of an easement (these are the Re Ellenborough Park capability
criteria that will be considered in the easements chapter). Even if the right of way does satisfy the substantive requirements of an easement, it will have had to be created using the correct formalities in order to have proprietary status
Registered at the Land Registry.
If the right of way is an easement, then the person will be able to recover use of the right of way if
their neighbour blocked the right of way so to prevent the person from using it, they would not have to settle for damages as compensation for loss of a right. In addition, if the right of way is an easement, the person would be able to enforce the right of
way against any new owner of their neighbour’s back yard providing the easement is registered at the Land Registry.
Example: A personal right
A person owns a house by the sea. From this house, the owner runs a guesthouse and people pay to stay in one of the bedrooms. The owner is granting their guests a licence to stay, and they enter into a contract with the guests. Such a right is not a recognised proprietary right; the guests have a personal right against the owner to stay in the house.
Example: A personal right
If the owner stopped a guest from staying at the guesthouse, then the guest would only be able to seek damages for breach of contract and they would not be able to recover the right to stay at the guesthouse. If the owner sold the house to a third party, then the guests would not be able to enforce the contract against the third party. The guests would have to seek damages for breach of contract.