Land Law



Land Law

Introduction

The branch of law which deals with the tenure of land provides one of the most interesting fields of political archaeology, since it contains strata from every era of social development, in which are fossilized the legal foliage of former social and economic orders. As an example of a politically significant transition it is instructive to consider the case of settled land in English law. Originally settled land passed intact to the legal heirs, so that the tenant for life was considered trustee for those who were to succeed him, with no right of use that would enable him to alter their right to the land and its fruits.

This paper discusses cases related to the Land. Further there are many laws that are related to the land. These cases specifically indicate to the registration and non-registration of the land and the issues that arises from the status of the land. The purchaser obligations will be discussed in this paper. There are five cases present and they will be discussed separately.

Case Discussion

This case refers to a case of land law. In this case Alfred is the registered owner of the freehold title Quarry Manor. Quarry Manor land has portions which includes Ivy Cottage and Rose Cottage along with a garage. Earlier to the registration of this land Alfred has made many arrangements with the people. Prior to the registration Alfred has orally contracted with a person named Bradley to pay rent of £100/month for the garage present in Quarry Manor. Alfred granted a lease of Ivy cottage to Cecil for eight years. This lease made between Cecil and Alfred has not been registered into a contract form. A ten year lease was granted to Desmond of Rose Cottage. Amount of rent was agreed and this contract was the only contract that was in written form. He granted an easement favour of a neighbouring property. The easement was never registered. Lastly, Alfred declared a written declaration of trust in relation to Quarry Manor in favour of his son Edmund. He entitled him with fifty percent of beneficial interest.

Problem Question

Following is the problem question which will be discussed in all the five cases separately:

Advise whether the interests would bind a purchaser of the legal title to Quarry Manor.

What difference would it make to your answer if the Manor were still unregistered?

Contemporary Literature

The Settled Land Acts 1856, 1882 and 1890 established that the interests of the heirs could be 'over-reached', i.e. translated into a money interest, and would automatically be so translated whenever the tenant for life sold the land. Hence whatever the form of the settlement there would has no impediment to sale of the land by the present occupant, who would then hold money, rather than land, in trust for his successors. This legislation put land for the first time on an equal footing with all other property as an item of free exchange, so that land becomes simply a special case of ...