Land Law Glossary

Question 1

Alienation

Answer 1

The transfer of property whether voluntary (eg by sale

or gift) or involuntary (eg through bankruptcy).

Question 2

Assignment

Answer 2

The transfer of an interest in the property, usually a
leasehold interest, although also used in relation to the transfer of a freehold reversion. (This term tends to be restricted to interests in unregistered titles.)

Question 3

Beneficial interest

Answer 3

The interest of a beneficiary under a trust.

Question 4

Charge

Answer 4

An incumbrance on a freehold or leasehold property
securing the payment of money (usually created by
deed).

Question 5

Constructive

Answer 5

Something that is inferred or implied, eg constructive

notice; constructive trust

Question 6

Conveyance

Answer 6

A document transferring legal ownership of land, the
title to which is unregistered. Usually confined to a
freehold disposition.

Question 7

Covenant

Answer 7

A promise contained in a deed

Question 8

Deed

Answer 8

A document satisfying the requirements of s 1 of the

Law of Property (Miscellaneous) Provisions Act 1989.

Question 9

Demise

Answer 9

Usually means the granting of a lease.

Question 10

Dominant tenement

Answer 10

Land having the benefit of a right attached to it (usually in connection with an easement).

Question 11

Easement

Answer 11

A right enjoyed over land for the benefit of other land (dominant tenement), eg a right of way, a right of drainage, a right of light. Such a right may be legal or equitable.

Question 12

Estate contract

Answer 12

A contract to convey or create a legal estate including

an option to purchase.

Question 13

Fine

Answer 13

A capital sum or premium paid, eg to a landlord in return for the granting of a lease. It is paid usually in
addition to rent, although the effect of the fine will be to reduce the amount of the rent.

Question 14

Foreclosure

Answer 14

Proceedings brought by a lender to bring to an end a

borrower’s right to redeem the mortgage.

Question 15

Freehold

Answer 15

One type of legal estate that can exist in land.

Question 16

Home right

Answer 16

The non-legal owning spouse’s or civil partner’s statutory right to occupy the matrimonial or civil partnership home under s 30 of the Family Law Act 1996.

Question 17

Interest affecting a registered estate

Answer 17

An interest that is neither an unregistered interest
which overrides a registered disposition nor a
registrable or registered disposition.

Question 18

Jus accrescendi

Answer 18

The right of survivorship that arises where there is a

joint tenancy

Question 19

Land charge

Answer 19

An incumbrance affecting land the title to which is
unregistered and which is capable of being protected
by registration on the Land Charges Register maintained under the Land Charges Act 1972.

Question 20

Leasehold

Answer 20

One type of legal estate that can exist in land

Question 21

Legal memory

Answer 21

Any time after the accession to the throne of Richard I

in 1189

Question 22

Licence

Answer 22

Permission, for example, to enter land without being

classed as a trespasser.

Question 23

Mortgage

Answer 23

The creation of rights over property as security for a

loan.

Question 24

Notice

Answer 24

An entry placed on the charges register of land the title to which is registered and which protects interests such as easements and restrictive covenants

Question 25

Overreaching

Answer 25

The transfer of rights under a trust from land to the

proceeds of sale of land.

Question 26

Periodic tenancy

Answer 26

A weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly tenancy

Question 27

Possession

Answer 27

Immediate entitlement to the land, ie physical possession or receipt of rents and profits or the right to receive the same.

Question 28

Privity of contract

Answer 28

The relationship that exists between parties to a

contract, eg an original landlord and original tenant

Question 29

Privity of estate

Answer 29

The relationship that exists between the current
landlord and current tenant under a lease created
before 1 January 1996

Question 30

Puisne mortgage

Answer 30

A legal mortgage not protected by deposit of title deeds over land the title to which is unregistered.

Question 31

Registrable disposition

Answer 31

A disposition of registered land which must be
completed by registration in order to take full effect.
For a list of such interests, see s 27 of the Land
Registration Act 2002

Question 32

Restriction

Answer 32

An entry placed on the proprietorship register of
land the title to which is registered that places some
restraint on the proprietor’s ability to dispose of the
land, eg by requiring a sole proprietor who is a trustee
to appoint another trustee in order to overreach the
beneficial interests or by requiring a person’s consent to be obtained before a disposal may be registered.

Question 33

Reversion

Answer 33

The interest that is not disposed of following the

granting of an estate, eg if A grants B a lease, A retains a freehold reversion

Question 34

Servient tenement

Answer 34

Land which is subject to a right, eg to an easement.

Question 35

Severance

Answer 35

Converting a joint tenancy into a tenancy in common.
This can be done only during lifetime and, after 1925,
only in relation to the equitable interest.

Question 36

Survivorship

Answer 36

The right of the surviving joint tenant(s) to the whole of the land.

Question 37

Tenure

Answer 37

A set of conditions on which land is held.

Question 38

Term of year

Answer 38

A certain fixed period during which a tenant holds

the land

Question 39

Time immemorial

Answer 39

From the date of accession to the throne of Richard I

(1189) – also known as the ‘date of legal memory’

Question 40

Trust of land

Answer 40

A trust that consists of or includes land. The interests of the beneficiaries may be successive or concurrent

Question 41

Undivided share

Answer 41

A tenancy in common.

Question 42

Unregistered interest which overrides a registered disposition

Answer 42

An interest in land the title to which is registered that is binding on the proprietor without the need to be protected by any entry on the register. For a list of such interests, see Sch 3 to the Land Registration Act.