L7: Registered & Unregistered Land

Question 1

What is meant by land that is registered?

Answer 1

The title to land has been recorded in a registered that is maintained, controlled and overseen by Land Registry

Question 2

What are the 4 groups of proprietary rights under the LRA 2002?

Answer 2

Substantively registrable estates
Interests which must be completed by registration to be legal
Other 3rd party interests capable of protection
Unregistered interests which override

Question 3

Which proprietary rights are capable of being substantively registered?

Answer 3

Legal fee simple (freehold)
Legal term of years (leasehold)

Question 4

Which interests must be completed by registration even if they are not substantively registered to be legal?

Answer 4

Transfer of a registered estate
Grant out of a registered estate of more than 7 years
Expressly created legal easement or mortgages

Question 5

What are other 3rd party interests capable of protection on the register?

Answer 5

Binding against successors
Easements, covenants, options to purchase

Question 6

What are unregistered interests which override?

Answer 6

Interests which, although not registered and don’t appear on the register, are binding on any person acquiring an interest in registered land

Question 7

When is first registration of previously unregistered land compulsory?

Answer 7

S4 LRA 2002 lists triggering events
Transfer of an unregistered freehold or transfer of leasehold with more than 7 years left to run
Grant of a lease for a term of more than 7 years
The grant of reversionary lease for any term where the lease is to take effect more than 3 months after the grant
Grant of a protected first legal mortgage

Question 8

Which registrable dispositions must be completed by registration? S27 LRA

Answer 8

Transfer of registered fee simple
Transfer of registered lease
Grant out of registered estate of a lease for term exceeding 7 years
Reversionary lease
Grant out of registered estate of a discontinuous lease
Grant or reservation of legal easement
Grant of legal charge

Question 9

What is the priority rule?

Answer 9

Whether pre existing rights are binding on a new owner of land
Ss.28, 29 LRA 2002
Interest is binding according to the date of it’s creation s28

Question 10

What is the exception to the s28 rule that an interest is binding according to the date of its creation?

Answer 10

Registrable disposition + valuable consideration completed by registration ss29 LRA

Question 11

What is the exception of s29

Answer 11

Registered charge over pre-existing interests protected by entry of a notice on a register
Any overriding interests under sch 3
Any interest excepted from the effect of registration

Question 12

What are notices?

Answer 12

S32 LRA- a notice is an entry in the register in respect of the burden of an interest affecting a registered estate or charge
Entered in the charges register
Agreed notices & unilateral notices

Question 13

What is the effect of a notice?

Answer 13

Alerts any party acquiring the land to the interests affect the title
Don’t guarantee validity of the interest

Question 14

Which rights are capable of being protected by entry of a notice?

Answer 14

Easements (legal and equitable)
Leases of more than 3 years but less than 7
Family home rights
Estate contracts
Restrictive covenants
Rights arising from a claim to proprietary estoppel

Question 15

Which rights are not capable of being entered ?

Answer 15

Interests under a trust
Leases of 3 years and less (these are protected and enforceable as overriding interests)
Restrictive covenants between lessor and lessee

Question 16

What is a restriction, how are they different from notices?

Answer 16

An entry in the register regulating the circumstances in which a disposition of a registered estate or change may be the subject of an entry on the register

Question 17

What is overreaching and how is it different from overriding interests?

Answer 17

Overreaching = detaching equitable interests from land
Defence by purchases for guaranteeing they have acquired the land free from beneficial interests under a trust
Overriding interests= asserted by interest holders to argue they have an interest binding on a purchaser despite that interest not having been protected on the register

Question 18

What is the effect of overreaching?

Answer 18

operates where there is a conveyance of land (e.g. mortgage or sale of land) and serves to substitute for money certain equitable interests affecting that land.

Question 19

Requirements for overreaching

Answer 19

1.
There must be an equitable interest which is capable of being overreached.

2.
The statutory conditions for overreaching must be met: ss. 2 and 27 of the LPA 1925.

Question 20

Which interests cannot be overreached?

Answer 20

An equitable lease, equitable easement, or an estate contract (a contract conveying or creating a legal estate) can never be overreached.

Question 21

How can overreaching be met?

Answer 21

There must be ‘a conveyance to a purchaser of a legal estate in land’ (s. 2(1) of the LPA 1925). And

Purchase/mortgage monies must be paid to at least two trustees or a trust corporation (s. 27 of the LPA 1925).

Question 22

City of London Building Society v Flegg

Answer 22

-Mr and Mrs B purchased bleak house with half the purchase monies advanced by Mrs Bs parents
- Gave rise to a trust
- Maxwell Browns mortgaged the property
- Mr and Mrs Flegg were unaware of the mortgage
- MBs defaulted on mortgage payments
- Fleggs argued that they had acquired beneficial interest and it was binding on the mortgage building society as an overriding interest
-HELD: Fleggs’ interest found to be overreached- took effect in the proceeds of the sale only
- Mortgage monies had been advanced to MB

Question 23

When will overreaching not take place?

Answer 23

Where purchase monies are paid to a single trustee Boland
- Where there is fraud HSBC v Dyche
- Where requirements for overreaching are not satisfied

Question 24

Overreaching has not taken place and the third party acquiring the land is a purchaser (i.e. provides consideration):

Answer 24

If a purchaser registers her title and overreaching has not taken place, under s. 29 of the LRA 2002 that purchaser will take the land free of pre-existing, non-overreached equitable interests that are not otherwise protected on the register under s. 29 of the LRA 2002.145

Question 25

Overreaching has not taken place and the third party acquiring the land is a non-purchaser (i.e. provides no consideration):

Answer 25

If a non-purchaser acquires the land (e.g. by way of gift), under the basic priority rule in s. 28 of the LRA 2002, the third party will be bound by the pre-existing but non-overreached interest according to the date of creation of the interests.

Question 26

Overreaching has not taken place yet an overriding interest can be established:

Answer 26

If, despite a failure of overreaching, the non-overreached interest nevertheless amounts to an overriding interest under Sch. 3 to the LRA 2002, that equitable interest will still bind the purchaser of the land under the operation of s. 29 of the LRA 2002. This happens more frequently than you might think as, for example, in Boland where, despite no overreaching taking place, Julia Boland was able establish an overriding interest as a result of her actual occupation of the home.

Question 27

Which interests override upon first registration?

Answer 27

• Legal leases of 7 years or less
• Interest of persons in actual occupation
• Legal easements or profits

Question 28

Sch 3 Para 1 LRA

Answer 28

legal leases of 7 years or less will automatically bind a purchaser of land without need for further conditions

Question 29

Sch 3 Para 2

Answer 29

Proprietary interest + Actual occupation triggers sch 3 Para 2

Question 30

What is actual occupation?

Answer 30

Some physical presence on the land with a degree of permanence or continuity

Question 31

Sch 3 Para 3 LRA

Answer 31

overriding status of legal easements

Question 32

What = automatic overriding status for legal easements under sch 3 para 3

Answer 32

• any easement taking effect as an OI before LRA came into force
• all legal easements expressly granted out of a registered force must be registered
• equitable easements must be entered as notices
• s62 LPA 1925 & WB

Question 33

Williams & Glyns Bank v Boland

Answer 33

• Boland was sole registered legal owner of Ridge park (matrimonial home) with his wife
• secured a loan against the property from williams’ bank
• B fell into arrears and defaulted on repayments
• Bank sought possession
• Julia who had made a substantial financial contribution, argued she had a contribution based equitable interest
• held: J enjoyed a proprietary interest in land coupled with actual occupation
• interest had not been overreached as the mortgage monies went solely to B

Question 34

Thompson v Foy

Answer 34

Actual occupation = degree of permanence and continuity of presence of the person concerned
- intention and wishes of that person
- length of absence from the property
- reason for it and nature of property

Question 35

Abbey National BS v Cann

Answer 35

• property was purchased with the aid of a mortgage by Cann (going to occupy it with his mother)
• on the day of purchase, charge in favour of the BS being created removal men started moving her belongings into the property
• charge was not completed by registration until a month later
• when her son defaulted, held that mother was unable to enforce her interest as an overriding interest as despite her being in actual occupation, relevant time held to be the date of the transfer

Question 36

When is an impliedly created easement binding on a purchaser? sch 3 para 3

Answer 36

• person to whom the disposition is made knows about their existence
• interest was obvious upon reasonably careful inspection of the land
• interest has been exercised in the year immediately preceding the disposition

Question 37

Chhokar v Chhokar [1984] FLR 313, CA

Answer 37

A wife’s beneficial interest under a trust was found to be binding on a purchaser of the property. Having paid purchase monies to just one trustee (the husband) no overreaching had taken place. The unoverreached interest, coupled with the fact that the wife was found to be in actual occupation at the time of purchase, despite being in hospital having a baby, gave her a binding overriding interest.