Distinction level Land Law notes (overall grade, 83)
Crafted by a recent graduate who received a distinction in the very same course, these notes are tailored to your PGDL program, ensuring they cover the crucial Land Law concepts you need to master.
Aligned with the PGDL program at the Univ...
When you attach an object to land (e.g. shelves / cupboards), it converts from a chattel to a
fixture
● A fixture is treated as though it is part of the land to which it is attached → forms part of
the purchase price of the property
● A chattel is separate from the land (can be removed at any time)
The Test:
If the contract is silent on whether an object is a chattel / fixture:
Two tests for identifying a fixture: (Berkley v Poulett [1977]):
1) Method and Degree of Annexation
● Whatever is attached to the soil becomes part of it (presumption that chattel has become a
fixture)
● Rebuttable → if the object is easily removable could argue it is chattel
2) Object and Purpose of Annexation
● An object resting on the ground by its own weight alone can be a fixture if the purpose of
placing it there was to enhance the reality
, ● An object which is only lightly affixed and can be removed easily may be a fixture, if it was
placed in a room to make it more beautiful
● Where an object may be enjoyed better as a chattel (even if fixed)
Case Law Examples:
○ D’Eyncourt v Gregory: number of freestanding items were fixtures as part of the
architectural design of the property
- Tapestries fixed to the panelling in the walls
- Portrait hung
- Carved kneeling figures & sculpted marble vases
○ Leigh v Taylor: tapestries never lost their character as chattels → had been stretched over
canvas and then tacked to a framework of wood nailed to the wall
- Hung merely for display = chattels
○ Elitestone Ltd v Morris and another: a bungalow rested on concrete foundation blocks set
into the ground → tenants claimed it was a house, freehold owner claimed it was chattel
- HoL: a house that is constructed so as to be removable may remain chattel
- A house which is constructed so that it can’t be removed at all is a fixture (part
and parcel of the realty)
○ Botham v TSB Bank plc: fitted carpets, curtains, light fittings, gas fires (connected by a
gas pipe) were all chattel. Fitted kitchen units were fixtures
- Where ‘the bath had been fitted built into the bathroom, the bath would become
a fixture and its taps would, prima facie, follow suit’
Conveyancing of Land:
Conveyancing = describes the procedure followed to transfer title to land (i.e the ownership of
land)
,There are 2 stages to the conveyancing transaction:
a) Exchange of Contracts (where the buyer obtains an equitable interest in the land)
b) Completion (where the parties execute a deed to transfer legal ownership of the land)
- This deed is called a conveyance
The Contract:
● During the pre-contract stage, the buyer will investigate the property fully (find out all
the rights and interests that exist over the property)
● The contract must be in writing and contain all the express terms agreed between the
parties (s 2 Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989)
● Must be signed by or on behalf of each party
● On exchange, the contract becomes fully effective
- Until exchange, either party may withdraw from the transaction without penalty
- Once exchanged, will face penalties if withdraw (contractually bound)
● After exchange, the seller still has the legal title to the land
- May remain in the property until completion (where the buyer pays the balance of
the purchase price)
- Between contract and completion, the buyer has an equitable interest in the
property (estate contract)
Completion:
● To transfer the title to a legal estate or interest in land, the parties must execute a deed (s
52 Law of Property Act 1925)
● On completion, the legal title to the property is transferred to the purchaser using a
conveyance of transfer
, Defining Land:
● Property = rights that confer upon a person a degree of control over a resource (e.g.
leases, easements and covenants)
- Doesn’t need to be land (e.g. a car or shares in a company)
Typical definition = land ‘extends upwards to infinity and downwards to the centre of the
earth’
○ Airspace has been limited to such height as is necessary for them to enjoy in an ordinary
way the land that they own and the structures that are placed upon it (Bernstein of Leigh
(Baron) v Skyviews & General Ltd [1977])
Legal Estates:
Estate = a period of time
● Where a person owns land, they own a period of time
● Where a person owns an estate, it can create a lesser estate (or shorter period of time) →
confer the benefit of such lesser estate on others
- → Possible to have 2 legal estates in the same piece of land at the same time
(landlord with a freehold estate and tenant with the leasehold estate)
● When you own an estate in land, you have the right to enjoy or possess that land and
receive any rents or profits produced
● When referring to ownership, don’t refer to ownership of land, but to the concept of an
estate or period of time in land
☑ Freehold Estate (s 1(1)(a) of the Law of Property Act 1925)
☑ Leasehold Estate (s 1(1)(b) of the Law of Property Act 1925)
, Legal Third Party Rights and Interests:
There are 2 legal third party rights and interests recognised in s 1(2) of the Law of Property Act
1925:
☑ Easement (s 1(2)(a) LPA)
☑ Legal Mortgage (s 1(2)(b) LPA)
Equitable Third Party Rights and Interests:
An interest not within s 1(2) is an equitable interest
☑ Equitable Interest under a Trust
☑ Restrictive Covenants
☑ Estate Contract
☑ Non-Legal Easements
Licences:
Licences → situations where landowners, whilst allowing persons to use their land in some
way, do not intend to create any kind of proprietary interest in it (permanent interest)
● The person using the land will instead have a licence of some kind
● A licence is capable of authorising anything → ranges from rights of access to temporary
accommodation (e.g. lodger) (Thomas v Sorrell)
, ● It is no more than a permission that rescues you from being regarded as a trespasser on
someone’s land (can be revoked at any time)
Bare licence
A licence granted for no consideration (The Calgarth [1927])
Contractual licence
A licence supported by consideration
● Revocation of a contractual licence may give rise to damages for breach of contract
● In equity, it may be possible to restrain wrongful revocation by an injunction
Statute:
Certain third party rights can arise by virtue of statute
Home Rights → a right of occupation as against the other spouse (for the non-owning spouse) (s
30 of the Family Law Act 1996)
, Registration of Land:
Prior to the passage of the LPA 1925 and the Land Registration Act 1925, estates and interests
were treated in the unregistered system of land law
● As such, more than 40% of England and Wales (by area) remains unregistered
● 10% of all titles to land remain unregistered
Unregistered:
Proof of Ownership of Title:
Where the title to the property is not registered at Land Registry, sellers prove that they have
the right to possession of the land by producing documents that show they and their
predecessors in title have been entitled to possession of the land
● Typically show a bundle of conveyances to prove there’s an unbroken chain of title
● LPA 1925 → unless the contract provides to the contrary, the seller need only produce
title deeds proving ownership of the land for the last 15 years (s 44 LPA)
Land Charges Register:
The Land Charges Register is a public register of third party rights that affect unregistered
land
1) Details of the third party interests should be registered by the person with the interest
against the name of the estate owner who has created the interest and whose land is to be
burdened by it (s 3, Land Charges Act 1972)
- Should be done at the time the interest is created
, 2) Such registration is deemed to constitute actual notice of the incumbrance and of the
fact of the registration to all persons connected with the land affected, as from the date
of registration (s 198, Law of Property Act 1925)
- Anyone who buys the land is deemed to buy with actual knowledge of the land
charge and will be bound by it
- The land charge must be registered by the date of completion of the sale (date of
conveyance)
● Where the land charge hasn’t been registered, the purchasers of the land can take free of
the unregistered land charge (s 4 Land Charges Act 1972)
- Purchaser includes a mortgagee and a lessee
- A person who receives a property as a gift takes subject all third party rights
(whether registered or not)
Third Party Rights that are capable of being registered as land charges:
☑ Estate Contract = Class C Land
☑ Restrictive Covenant = Class D Land
☑ Equitable Easement = Class D Land
☑ Family Law Act 1996 = Class F Land
Pre-1926 Rules:
Where an third party right / interest falls outside of the Land Charges Act rules, you must apply
the rules which operated before the Act (pre-1926 rules)
☑ Equitable interests under a trust = enforceable against anyone, except equity’s darling
☑ Most legal interests (legal leases / easements / mortgages) = bind the world
☑ Pre 1926 equitable interests
, Removal of Interest:
A purchaser who discovers a third party interest before they buy the property may be able to
take action to ensure that it is removed from the property before they complete the purchase
● Can negotiate to get them to release their interest
● Separate rules for equitable interests under a trust → done by overreaching
Registered:
After the parties execute a deed to transfer ownership of the land from one to the other.
Where the title to land is registered, the deed takes the form of a transfer.
On the sale of a registered title, completion of the transfer doesn’t transfer the legal estate from
the seller to buyer (s 27 Land Registration Act)
● Legal estate remains with the seller
● Will only pass to the buyer when their name is put on the register as the new owner of
the land
The register will reveal the current owner and what other interests exist over the property:
a) Property Register
● Contains a description of the land by reference to a title plan and address of the
property
● Reveals the legal estate which has been registered under the title number
● Contains details of any rights that benefit the land (e.g. benefit of an easement)
b) Proprietorship Register:
● Reveals the name and address of the legal owners of the land (the registered
proprietors)
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