LAND LAW

Land Law

Land Law

Case Background

Before a right or an interest can be admitted into the category of property, or of a right affecting property, it must be definable, identifiable by third parties, capable in its nature of assumption by third parties, and have some degree of permanence or stability.

Analysis

An estate in land is basically the rights and interests a person has over a plot of land due to the traditional stance that all land belongs to the crown when you buy a property or land it is actually the benefits and rights of that land you actually purchase.

The 1925 Law

Major changes were made to English Land Law by what is commonly referred to as the '1925 legislation'.  This 1925 legislation includes the following Acts, each of which came into force on 1 January 1926:

Law of Property Act 1925

Trustee Act 1925

Settled Land Act 1925

Land Registration Act 1925 (now repealed by the Land Registration Act 2002)

Land Charges Act 1925 (now 1972)

Administration of Estates Act 1925

The main purpose behind the creation of this law was to modernise existing Land Law and simplify the process by which rights, interest and obligations in or over land are transferred and protected. 

Personal and proprietary rights

Usually rights are created by one person for the benefit of another by way of an agreement or a contract.   The rights created by that agreement or contract can be either personal rights or property (usually known as proprietary) rights.

Personal rights can only be enforced by the parties to the agreement or contract A personal right is not binding  on someone else (a third party) who is not a party to the contract, e.g. bare and contractual licences. 

Proprietary rights are personal to the parties of the agreement or contract and also capable of binding and affecting third parties, and not only the parties to the contract.  That is, they are capable of attaching to the land itself so that anybody who comes into ownership or occupation of the land  may be entitled to enjoy the rights the interest gives or be subject to the obligations that it imposes.   

Legal Estates

Theoretically all land belongs to the Crown .  A person cannot therefore own land but owns instead a series of rights and duties in relation to that land, usually referred to as  an estate in land.  

Today, under s.1(1) LPA 1925 only two estates in land are recognised at law:

an estate in fee simple absolute in possession ('freehold')

a term of years absolute ('leasehold'). 

What is an estate in fee simple absolute possession? (Freehold)

A fee simple ( also known as a freehold) has the most extensive, absolute rights in respect to the land. Since the beginning of legal history a fee simple absolute in possession provides the owner with absolute ownership over that land in every definition of the word.

A Term of Years Absolute

The phrase “term of years absolute” simply means, a lease. Basically giving the owner of the term of years absolute the right to exclusive possession of the land for ...