Property Law / Land Law

Introduction

Contents
1. Introduction
 Studying property law
 A suggested approach to study
 The examination
 Some basic definitions

2. The 1925 reforms and unregistered land law

 The rules of competing rights in land applying to land which has not had its title registered in
the title register, and the reforms introduced by the Land Registration Act 1925. Persons
other than the ‘owner’ of land may claim to have rights in the land - to live on it or to use it.
 A brief overview of the 1925 reforms
 Reduction in the number of legal estates
 The unregistered title system
 Overreaching in the unregistered title system
 Introduction of a system of land charges registration in unregistered title
 The doctrine of notice in unregistered title

3. Registration of title
 The rules of competing rights in land where title has been registered in the land register, and
the impact of the reforms introduced by the Land Registration Act 2002. Registration of title
is compulsory, and registration of a right in land has very important effects upon its
enforceability against third parties.
 Basic features of the system
 Land Registration Act 2002
 The categories of interest in registered title
 The effect of the Land Registration Act 2002: overriding interests
4. Co-ownership
 Co-ownership is when two or more people are entitled to simultaneous enjoyment of land.
It can be created formally or informally, and we shall look at both statutory and case law
rules for co-ownership and its termination.
 The two forms of co-ownership
 The means by which co-ownership might arise
 Distinction between joint tenancy and tenancy in common
 Severance
 The 1925 and 1996 reforms
 Rights of beneficiaries
 Trusts of land

5. Proprietary estoppel
 Introduction
 Proprietary estoppel
 Remedies

6. Landlord and tenant: the law of leases

 The distinctions between leases and licences. Key aspects of the law of landlord and tenant,
including the ‘ingredients’ of a lease, its defining features, its termination and the
enforcement of certain promises made in leases.
 General characteristics of a lease
 Creation of a lease
 Determination of leases
 Covenants running with the land and the reversion

7. Easements and profits à prendre

 An easement is a right to do something on someone else’s land. It is a right in land. Thus it
can continue indefinitely, binding successive owners of the affected land.
 Nature and characteristics of an easement
 Creation of easements
 Extent and extinguishment of easements
 Running with the land
 Effect of the Land Registration Act 2002
 Profits à prendre
8. Freehold Covenants / Non-leasehold covenants / Restrictive Covenants
 Neighbours often try to restrict each other’s behaviour in order, for example, to prevent the
running of a business in a residential area. A restrictive covenant is a promise made by the
owner of land that he will not do a particular thing, such as run a business; it may be
enforceable against subsequent buyers of that land.
 Passing of the benefit and burden
 Passing of the burden at law
 Discharge and modification of restrictive covenants
 Reforms

9. Mortgages
 Most people finance their purchase of land via a mortgage, which is a loan secured on the
land. The law has to balance the rights and duties of the mortgagor (borrower of money)
against those of the mortgagee (the lender of the purchase money).
 Creation of mortgages
 Position of the mortgagor
 Rights of the mortgagee

10. Adverse possession

 This is the controversial topic of squatters’ rights, which has been radically reformed by the
Land Registration Act 2002.
 Unregistered land
 Registered land with 12 years’ adverse possession before 13 October 2003
 Registered land under the Land Registration Act 2002
 Unregistered land
Materials
Core text

Students should refer to the following core text.

Dixon, M. Modern land law. (London: Routledge, 2021) 12th edition [ISBN 9780367484484].

Permitted materials in the exams

Core statutes on property law 2019–20 (Palgrave Macmillan).

Further reading

1. MacKenzie, J-A. and A. Nair Textbook on land law. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020)
18th edition [ISBN 9780198839828].

2. Ben McFarlane, Nicholas Hopkins. & Sarah Nield, Land Law (Oxford University Press)

3. Gray, K. and S.F. Gray Elements of land law. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) fifth
edition [ISBN 9780199219728].

4. Bogusz, B. and R. Sexton Complete land law: text, cases and materials. (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2019) sixth edition [ISBN 9780198824909].

5. Burn, E.H. and J. Cartwright Maudsley & Burn’s land law: cases and materials. (Oxford, New
York: Oxford University Press, 2009) ninth edition [ISBN 9780199226177].

6. Clarke, A. and P. Kohler Property law: commentary and materials. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2005) [ISBN 9780521614894].

7. George, M. and A. Layard Thompson’s modern land law. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2019) seventh edition [ISBN 9780198828020].

8. Gravells, N.P. Land law: text and materials. (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2010) fourth edition
[ISBN 9780421963603].

9. Smith, R.J. Property law. (Harlow: Pearson, 2020) 10th edition [ISBN 9781292286716].
 DAVID

KEVIN

SALLY