THIS PAPER IS NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAMINATION HALL

LA2003 October
LLB
BSc DEGREES WITH LAW

Property law (Level 5)

Tuesday 15 October 2019: 10.00 – 13.15

DO NOT TURN OVER UNTIL TOLD TO BEGIN

Candidates will have THREE HOURS AND FIFTEEN MINUTES in which to

answer the questions. Candidates must answer all parts of a question unless
otherwise stated.

Candidates must answer FOUR of the following EIGHT questions.

Permitted materials
Candidates are permitted to bring into the examination room the following
specified document: one copy of Core Statutes on Property Law 2018-19
(Palgrave Macmillan).

© University of London 2019

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1. Discuss the impact of the provisions of the Land Registration Act 2002
on claims to adverse possession of land with freehold title.

2. ‘The law’s approach to determining whether or not the term of a lease is

sufficiently certain requires reform.’

Discuss.

3. Some years ago when Ian purchased his takeaway café, Ian’s Plaice,
he had difficulty in finding a bank willing to lend him the money he
needed. Eventually, he persuaded Posh Pickles plc to lend him 90% of
the purchase price. Posh Pickles insisted on the loan being secured by
way of legal mortgage over the title to the café. The mortgage it agreed
with Ian contained the following terms:

(i) The rate of interest payable will vary from time to time but
will never be less than 10% above the Bank of China’s
standard interest rate.

(ii) Posh Pickles plc will have a right of pre-emption to

purchase the separate storage shed in the backyard of
Ian’s Plaice at any time during a period of five years after
redemption of the mortgage.

(iii) Ian will buy all his pickles from Posh Pickles plc at the
market price for the duration of the loan.

Ian moved into the upstairs flat above Ian’s Plaice, and initially his
business was a great success. However, after a rival café opened in the
same street, Ian started to lose money. He fell into arrears with his
monthly mortgage repayments to Posh Pickles. To boost his income he
took an evening job driving taxis.

Advise Ian: (a) whether the terms of the mortgage are enforceable; (b)
what, if any, legal protection he has in the event that Posh Pickles wants
to take possession of Ian’s Plaice; and (c) about his entitlement to the
proceeds of sale if Posh Pickles decides to exercise its power to sell
Ian’s Plaice.

4. ‘Formality requirements are essential in land law, not least in promoting

certainty. However, the operation of proprietary estoppel, whether to
allow for the creation of beneficial interests informally or to assist where
no valid land contract exits, is far from clearly defined.’

Discuss.

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5. In 2015 four medical students, Alex, Bernice, Colleen and Dawn,
purchased Seagull Cottage, for them to use as a weekend cottage. They
made equal contributions to the purchase price, and title to Seagull
Cottage was conveyed to all four of them as joint tenants of the legal and
beneficial estate.

In 2016 Alex decided to emigrate to Belgium. He therefore sold his

interest in Seagull Cottage to Ethel, another medical student. Bernice
disliked Ethel. She therefore wrote to Colleen and Dawn to tell them that
she was urgently looking for somebody to buy her share. She posted the
letter but it did not arrive at Seagull Cottage. Bernice subsequently
changed her mind about selling when she realised she would be able to
use Seagull Cottage when Ethel was not there.

In 2019 Colleen ran into financial difficulty and offered to sell her interest
to Dawn. They discussed the possibility over several months but before
they could agree terms Colleen was killed in a boating accident. By her
will, Colleen left all her property to her brother, Ferdy.

Bernice now wants Seagull Cottage to be sold, but Dawn prefers to

retain the cottage.

Advise Bernice about: (a) the beneficial ownership of Seagull Cottage;

and (b) the possibility that a court will order a sale.

6. Most evenings when Linda, the owner of Ambridge Hall (the Hall), an
exclusive country house hotel, would walk through fields belonging to
the Hall as a shortcut to reach The Bull, the local pub. Linda also owned
the registered title of The Bull. Some year’s ago she granted a lease of
the pub to Kenton. A short time after doing so Linda began to allow
Kenton to store beer barrels in a small shed in one of the fields in the
Hall, and also to hang a flag advertising The Bull on the wall of the
gatehouse cottage that is located on the main road at entrance to the
Hall.

Linda recently sold the Hall to Ian, but she has retained ownership of the
fields, the shed and the gatehouse cottage. Around the same time she
also sold the registered fee simple of The Bull to Kenton. Ian has since
insisted on the right to use the shortcut through the fields to reach The
Bull, while Kenton has claimed rights to store the beer barrels in the shed
and retain the advertising flag on the wall of the gatehouse cottage.

Advise Linda.

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7. Justin is negotiating to buy the registered freehold title to Lower Loxley
Hall from Elizabeth. Elizabeth is using Lower Loxley Hall, a 17th century
stately home, as a conference venue and theme park. Elizabeth tells
Justin that she is in the process of selling the golf course that forms part
of Lower Loxley Hall’s extensive grounds separately to Lillian, a property
developer.

Justin is anxious that either Lillian, or some future owner of the golf
course, might want to change the use of the land to allow building in a
way that may adversely affect the amenities of Lower Loxley Hall. Justin
also wants to ensure that any future owner of the golf course will be liable
to contribute half of the cost of maintaining the private driveway that
Lower Loxley Hall and the golf course share.

Advise Justin as to: (a) the covenants he should ask Elizabeth to include
in the sale of the golf course to Lillian; and (b) the circumstances in which
such covenants can be enforced by and against any subsequent owners
of Lower Loxley Hall and the golf course.

8. May has recently purchased Brexit Farm from Nigel; title to Brexit Farm
has always been registered. Nigel has since moved to live in Berlin. May
has now discovered the following information:

(a) Donald, a local poultry farmer, claims that he has a two-

year lease of a shed on Brexit Farm which he uses to rear
his chickens.

(b) Angela, Nigel’s wife, has recently returned from Norway

where she spent a year negotiating a trade deal. Angela
did not know about the sale of Brexit Farm. She paid the
deposit when Nigel purchased the property some years
ago. Angela insists she still has rights to live in Brexit
Farm.

(c) Boris, the owner of a neighbouring farm, Brookfield, claims

he has acquired an easement to use the underground
drains that run across Brexit Farm.

(d) Ed, who has a lease of two fields on Brexit Farm, which he
uses to run a theme park, claims that he has an agreement
to buy the land over which he has the tenancy.

Advise May about her legal position in relation the claims made by
Donald, Angela, Boris and Ed.

Briefly indicate how your answer would differ if unregistered land law
principles could still govern both title to, and each of the above claims to
rights over, Brexit Farm.

END OF PAPER

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