ESTATES

Question 1

What is the difference between a proprietary right and a personal right?

Answer 1

Proprietary right = have rights in rem, capable of being enforced against third parties and the OG party, can get the property back

Personal right = will only bind the OG parties and likely to only get remedies rather than the property itself

Question 2

Which rights have proprietary status?

Answer 2

• The freehold estate
• The leasehold estate
• Easements
• Mortgages
• Restrictive covenants
• Estate contracts
• Beneficial interests under a trust of land

Question 3

Do we ever own land?

Answer 3

No, all the physical land is owned by the Crown, we have a right to possess the land for a certain amount of time

Question 4

What is an estate in land?

Answer 4

A proprietary right of possession

Question 5

What are the 2 recognised legal estates?

Answer 5

Freehold & Leasehold

Question 6

What is a freehold estate?

Answer 6

• The highest possible estate in land - also known as the fee simple absolute in possession(LPA 1925, s 1(1)(a))
• It is a right of possession which lasts until the owner for the time being dies without heirs, meaning without any blood relatives and without having disposed of it by will.
  ○fee= it is capable of being inherited.
  ○ simple= it can be inherited by any heir and includes distant relatives.
  ○ absolute= that the estate is not liable to end prematurely, which means it is not determinable or subject to a condition.
  ○ In possession= the fee simple owner has a current right to use and enjoyment of the property. Physical possession is not necessary here and includes receiving rent if the property is let to a tenant under a lease.
• Owner can sell/ give away or grant a lesser estate (a lease)

Question 7

What is a leasehold estate?

Answer 7

• a term of years absolute(LPA 1925, s 1(1)(b))
• Leases are granted in both residential and commercial contexts.
• Leases can be short or can be hundreds of years long.
• The leaseholder (whom we call the tenant) may grant a lease of a lesser duration out of their own leasehold, while still retaining the original lease. This is now subject to the ‘sub-lease.

Question 8

What happens if the current fee simple owner dies without next of kin & without a will?

Answer 8

The land is regarded as bona vacantia and reverts to the Crown (very rare)

Question 9

What is a freehold reversion?

Answer 9

The residue of the estate after the granting of a lease - when the lease ends the right to physical possession of the land automatically reverts to the landlord

Question 10

What is a common hold?

Answer 10

• Commonhold is a type of freehold (Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002).
• It is not a new estate in the land, but one created out of a freehold registered estate.
• Designed to meet the needs of owners of flats or apartments where the owners are interdependent on each other, for example, retirement homes.
• It is an alternative to a long lease, which is a declining asset. Another advantage is that there is no overall landlord.
• However, there is a freehold owner, and that is a company called a commonhold association. The owner of each flat is a member of the association (ie if you buy a commonhold flat, you will be part of the association). The commonhold association is responsible for maintaining the communal areas of the building.