Chris Bevans Land Law Book
(LPA, 1925)
English Law draws a distinction between personal rights and property rights.
Property rights have certain characteristics that we don’t usually find in personal rights.
Property law is about (legal) relationships
Property - described as legal right to use something
- Ownership of property is relative (e.g relative to other peoples rights limited by
rules)
- Property is not absolute - it has limitation, degree of control.
Personal Rights (Entitlement between parties, (e.g, contract))
- Can’t be transferred always (such as a ticket).
- Only exists upon personal relationships (inviting someone for tea allowing them to
your property)
- Alienable in certain circumstances
- Limited rights/ power (in relation to land)
Property Rights (Proprietary rights) (entitlement between a party and the rest of the world
(e.g your house)
- Ownership of tangible items or estate.
- Property rights are universal - can be enforced against everybody (right to take back
if taken)
- The owner of rights in a thing generally has a right to exclude others from using the
thing (Excludability)
- Property rights are transferable (Alienable - something that can be given/transfer to
someone else)
- Significant degree of control.
- Property rights are relative, Balance of proportion (Whose rights are stronger?)
- Different property rights can exist simultaneously in relation to same plot of land
- Law has a way of classifying things that the person can own ( Real property vs
Personal property)
- Personal property is tangible (Except shares and virtual money), Real property owns
property rights in land (Estate not land).
- E.G Car hire
Distinguish between:
- Real property - rights in relation to land
- Personal property - right in relation to any type of land that can be owned
,Why is land important:
- Permanent
- Limited supply
- Economic value
- Social value
- Connected to other land
- Every land is unique
- Multiple interest
Estate
- Owning property rights entitles the owner of those rights to the immediate use and
enjoyment of land
- People do not own land, they own an estate in land, Estate is a label granting
someone use and enjoyment of land for a period of time.
There of 2 types of estate:
- A lease
- A fee simple absolute in possession.
Owner of an estate in land has a right to:
● Possession of the land
● Exclude from the land anyone who doesn't have permission to be there
● Transfer (or alienate) ownership of the estate
● Grant other property rights in land
A fee simple absolute in possession s (1) (1) (a) LPA 1925
- A fee simple in possession, Grants right to excludability, Alienability.
- In theory it can last forever, due to wills transferability to a nomination(inheritance).
Hence making it last forever.
A Lease term of year absolute s (1) (b) LPA 1925
- Person has right to enjoy and use land for a period of time
- One fee estate can have multiple leases
- Lease must have a definite start and end point
- Balance of power, 999 year tennant has stronger rights than a tenant with a 9 month
lease
- Landlord has freehold reversion (right to own property after lease comes to an end)
,Joint ownership of an estate
- Each co-owner can have property rights in the land
- E.g, friends, roommates, married couples.
- Diversity of ownership can lead to disputes.
- Property rights that give over another person's land are called third party property
rights e.g mortgage is a 3rd party property right
- Restrictive Covenant is a conditional transfer of property rights, a promise from one
land owner to a neighbouring one to not do something. Only transferable if it affects
the new landowner, not personally the last one.
- Easement - A right that entails one landowner to use another's land in a specific way
(e.g Right of way through a property)
Enforceability
Different people can hold different property rights in relation to the same plot of land.
Property rights are not only binding between the people who created the rights.
Property rights can bind successive owners of land.
- Most property rights in a land must be created using a deed. (a written signed and
witnesses)
- Most property rights must be registered with land registry before any rights can be
asserted or enforced
- This ensures a quick and verified process of obtaining info about the property rights
of a certain plot of land.
Maximising the Exchange Value of Land
It might be desirable to have a legal system that contains rules designed to enable
landowners to maximise the monetary value of the property rights that they’re exchanging.
Lord Upjohn “It has been the policy of the law for over a hundred years to simplify and
facilitate transactions in real property” (National Provincial Bank Ltd v Ainsworth (HL) [1965]
AC 1175 at 1233)
Maximising the Use Value of Land
- Use values relates to the way that property rights in land might serve some
fundamentally useful purpose or satisfy some essential human requirement.
- There are also rules designed to protect a person's right to a home but there are also
rules that promote the transferability of land.
Lecture week 3
- The doctrine of tenure and estates
- Freehold estate and leasehold estate
, Freehold estate (fee simple absolute in possession)
- Other freehold estates can exist in equity
- Life estate - right to use a land for lifetime (Void when person dies)
- A fee simple absolute in possession: s.1 (1) (a) LPA 1925
a) Fee simple - no end date or no end if someone dies
b) Absolute - owners rights in relation to land are unconditional
c) In possession - Property rights are immediate
d) Often referred as the freehold title (Legal freehold)
A leasehold estate (Term of years absolute) s.1 (1) (b) LPA 1925:
a) Can only last for a specific/ defined period of time
b) Owner of freehold estate grants another a lease
c) Landlord has immediate right to use land but entitled to collect rent
d) Tenant has exclusive physical possession of land for a period of time as long as she
gives rent
Owner of interest in land:
- Gives a person a right to do something specific with a land but no immediate right to
use and enjoy land as whole - s.1 (2) LPA 1925
- A single plot of land can accommodate wide variety of uses to usually ensure scarce
resources aren't being under-utilised
- Only five types of legal interests {s.1 (2) LPA 1925}
- Unlimited personal rights can be created (This means that a landowner cannot create
new types of property right but a landowner can enter into whatever personal
obligations they want).
- Gives owner a type of property right that is enforceable against the entire world
Distinction between legal property rights and equitable property rights
Common Law and Equity
- The “Common Law” is the system of general Law as developed in case law and
statutes
- “Equity” is the system of law that modifies the general Common Law rules when a
strict application of those common law rules would produce unfair or harsh outcomes
- (royal) Writs - used to be obtained from chancery, foundation for treating cases alike
- To bring a claim in the common law courts, a claimant needed a royal writ
- If there's a conflict between common law and equity, equity takes precedence/ will
prevail.
- Common law rules and equitable rules now operate side-by-side although still
possible to distinguish rules.
(LPA, 1925)
English Law draws a distinction between personal rights and property rights.
Property rights have certain characteristics that we don’t usually find in personal rights.
Property law is about (legal) relationships
Property - described as legal right to use something
- Ownership of property is relative (e.g relative to other peoples rights limited by
rules)
- Property is not absolute - it has limitation, degree of control.
Personal Rights (Entitlement between parties, (e.g, contract))
- Can’t be transferred always (such as a ticket).
- Only exists upon personal relationships (inviting someone for tea allowing them to
your property)
- Alienable in certain circumstances
- Limited rights/ power (in relation to land)
Property Rights (Proprietary rights) (entitlement between a party and the rest of the world
(e.g your house)
- Ownership of tangible items or estate.
- Property rights are universal - can be enforced against everybody (right to take back
if taken)
- The owner of rights in a thing generally has a right to exclude others from using the
thing (Excludability)
- Property rights are transferable (Alienable - something that can be given/transfer to
someone else)
- Significant degree of control.
- Property rights are relative, Balance of proportion (Whose rights are stronger?)
- Different property rights can exist simultaneously in relation to same plot of land
- Law has a way of classifying things that the person can own ( Real property vs
Personal property)
- Personal property is tangible (Except shares and virtual money), Real property owns
property rights in land (Estate not land).
- E.G Car hire
Distinguish between:
- Real property - rights in relation to land
- Personal property - right in relation to any type of land that can be owned
,Why is land important:
- Permanent
- Limited supply
- Economic value
- Social value
- Connected to other land
- Every land is unique
- Multiple interest
Estate
- Owning property rights entitles the owner of those rights to the immediate use and
enjoyment of land
- People do not own land, they own an estate in land, Estate is a label granting
someone use and enjoyment of land for a period of time.
There of 2 types of estate:
- A lease
- A fee simple absolute in possession.
Owner of an estate in land has a right to:
● Possession of the land
● Exclude from the land anyone who doesn't have permission to be there
● Transfer (or alienate) ownership of the estate
● Grant other property rights in land
A fee simple absolute in possession s (1) (1) (a) LPA 1925
- A fee simple in possession, Grants right to excludability, Alienability.
- In theory it can last forever, due to wills transferability to a nomination(inheritance).
Hence making it last forever.
A Lease term of year absolute s (1) (b) LPA 1925
- Person has right to enjoy and use land for a period of time
- One fee estate can have multiple leases
- Lease must have a definite start and end point
- Balance of power, 999 year tennant has stronger rights than a tenant with a 9 month
lease
- Landlord has freehold reversion (right to own property after lease comes to an end)
,Joint ownership of an estate
- Each co-owner can have property rights in the land
- E.g, friends, roommates, married couples.
- Diversity of ownership can lead to disputes.
- Property rights that give over another person's land are called third party property
rights e.g mortgage is a 3rd party property right
- Restrictive Covenant is a conditional transfer of property rights, a promise from one
land owner to a neighbouring one to not do something. Only transferable if it affects
the new landowner, not personally the last one.
- Easement - A right that entails one landowner to use another's land in a specific way
(e.g Right of way through a property)
Enforceability
Different people can hold different property rights in relation to the same plot of land.
Property rights are not only binding between the people who created the rights.
Property rights can bind successive owners of land.
- Most property rights in a land must be created using a deed. (a written signed and
witnesses)
- Most property rights must be registered with land registry before any rights can be
asserted or enforced
- This ensures a quick and verified process of obtaining info about the property rights
of a certain plot of land.
Maximising the Exchange Value of Land
It might be desirable to have a legal system that contains rules designed to enable
landowners to maximise the monetary value of the property rights that they’re exchanging.
Lord Upjohn “It has been the policy of the law for over a hundred years to simplify and
facilitate transactions in real property” (National Provincial Bank Ltd v Ainsworth (HL) [1965]
AC 1175 at 1233)
Maximising the Use Value of Land
- Use values relates to the way that property rights in land might serve some
fundamentally useful purpose or satisfy some essential human requirement.
- There are also rules designed to protect a person's right to a home but there are also
rules that promote the transferability of land.
Lecture week 3
- The doctrine of tenure and estates
- Freehold estate and leasehold estate
, Freehold estate (fee simple absolute in possession)
- Other freehold estates can exist in equity
- Life estate - right to use a land for lifetime (Void when person dies)
- A fee simple absolute in possession: s.1 (1) (a) LPA 1925
a) Fee simple - no end date or no end if someone dies
b) Absolute - owners rights in relation to land are unconditional
c) In possession - Property rights are immediate
d) Often referred as the freehold title (Legal freehold)
A leasehold estate (Term of years absolute) s.1 (1) (b) LPA 1925:
a) Can only last for a specific/ defined period of time
b) Owner of freehold estate grants another a lease
c) Landlord has immediate right to use land but entitled to collect rent
d) Tenant has exclusive physical possession of land for a period of time as long as she
gives rent
Owner of interest in land:
- Gives a person a right to do something specific with a land but no immediate right to
use and enjoy land as whole - s.1 (2) LPA 1925
- A single plot of land can accommodate wide variety of uses to usually ensure scarce
resources aren't being under-utilised
- Only five types of legal interests {s.1 (2) LPA 1925}
- Unlimited personal rights can be created (This means that a landowner cannot create
new types of property right but a landowner can enter into whatever personal
obligations they want).
- Gives owner a type of property right that is enforceable against the entire world
Distinction between legal property rights and equitable property rights
Common Law and Equity
- The “Common Law” is the system of general Law as developed in case law and
statutes
- “Equity” is the system of law that modifies the general Common Law rules when a
strict application of those common law rules would produce unfair or harsh outcomes
- (royal) Writs - used to be obtained from chancery, foundation for treating cases alike
- To bring a claim in the common law courts, a claimant needed a royal writ
- If there's a conflict between common law and equity, equity takes precedence/ will
prevail.
- Common law rules and equitable rules now operate side-by-side although still
possible to distinguish rules.
