Land Law Lecture 2 02/10/15
Freeholds
Feudal Tenure
In theory, you never own land. The only person who owns land is the
queen. Everyone else is theoretically holding from the crown. In
most continental countries there were revolutions which swept away
the feudal system, but in Britain the feudal system was removed
much earlier under Cromwell. When Charles II came back to the
throne the feudal system was effectively destroyed but the theory
remained.
In reality – there is no practical consequence of this system,
however in a few marginal cases it makes a difference:
o Can the queen hold an estate in land? If she did she would be
the feudal lord and the feudal tenant at the same time. Until
recently under land registration laws meant that any land
owned by the queen could not be registered, it was
inconvenient as the queen owns huge amounts of land and it
means that the register was incomplete. The solution under
the Land Registration Act 2002 was that the queen can grant
herself an estate and this could be registered.
Consequence of this system is that you cannot own land directly,
you can only own an estate in land.
Estate Terminology
Estate = legal ownership rights which can be bought and sold S1(1)
Law of Property Act gives definition.
Legal interest = legal rights over another’s land, eg an easement,
does not give right to occupation itself, S1(2) Law of Property Act, 4
different interests.
Equitable interest = beneficial interests and equitable third party
rights, everything which is not legal, mainly interests under trusts
S1(3) states that everything not named under (1) or (2) is an
equitable interest.
Act effectively greatly increased the number of equitable interests.
The Perpetual Freehold
Absolute ownership rights under English law (Law of Property Act,
sometimes described as Birkenhead legislation)
LPA 1925 S1(1) – the only estates in land which are capable of
subsisting or of being conveyed or created at law are:
o An estate in fee simple absolute in possession [freehold]
Possession – begins now
Estate – particular duration of time
Fee simple – something continuing into the future
Absolute – nothing to stop it
o A term of years absolute [leasehold]
Special cases – Company may own land even though it is liable to
be dissolved by liquidation – LPA S7(2) – the fact that the company
may disappear does not stop it from being forever (though it may be
Freeholds
Feudal Tenure
In theory, you never own land. The only person who owns land is the
queen. Everyone else is theoretically holding from the crown. In
most continental countries there were revolutions which swept away
the feudal system, but in Britain the feudal system was removed
much earlier under Cromwell. When Charles II came back to the
throne the feudal system was effectively destroyed but the theory
remained.
In reality – there is no practical consequence of this system,
however in a few marginal cases it makes a difference:
o Can the queen hold an estate in land? If she did she would be
the feudal lord and the feudal tenant at the same time. Until
recently under land registration laws meant that any land
owned by the queen could not be registered, it was
inconvenient as the queen owns huge amounts of land and it
means that the register was incomplete. The solution under
the Land Registration Act 2002 was that the queen can grant
herself an estate and this could be registered.
Consequence of this system is that you cannot own land directly,
you can only own an estate in land.
Estate Terminology
Estate = legal ownership rights which can be bought and sold S1(1)
Law of Property Act gives definition.
Legal interest = legal rights over another’s land, eg an easement,
does not give right to occupation itself, S1(2) Law of Property Act, 4
different interests.
Equitable interest = beneficial interests and equitable third party
rights, everything which is not legal, mainly interests under trusts
S1(3) states that everything not named under (1) or (2) is an
equitable interest.
Act effectively greatly increased the number of equitable interests.
The Perpetual Freehold
Absolute ownership rights under English law (Law of Property Act,
sometimes described as Birkenhead legislation)
LPA 1925 S1(1) – the only estates in land which are capable of
subsisting or of being conveyed or created at law are:
o An estate in fee simple absolute in possession [freehold]
Possession – begins now
Estate – particular duration of time
Fee simple – something continuing into the future
Absolute – nothing to stop it
o A term of years absolute [leasehold]
Special cases – Company may own land even though it is liable to
be dissolved by liquidation – LPA S7(2) – the fact that the company
may disappear does not stop it from being forever (though it may be
