Lecture notes
Land Law 1
- Module
- Land Law 1
- Institution
- University Of Sussex (UoS)
These are the notes for Land Law 1 - It covers the basic of land law including definitions, rights, and land registration
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Lecture 2 – RevisedPersonal Rights – Claims that are reduceable to money as opposed to money
- This would only be enforceable against the person that you made the contract with – Contract
law
Proprietary Rights – Rights in things – In Land Law, the thing is land
- Can also apply to other things like a chair or a table
- It has to be some sort of thing
- They can be enforceable against everyone – The world in general or people in general
o It’s not a specific individual that has to respect it, but rather everyone
o They bind anyone who comes into contact with the land
- The rights will always stay with the land even if the owner changes
o Easement for example will stay with the land even if the owner changes
Gray and Gray definition of a property is on a spectrum – Scholars will disagree on what characterizes
property
- Proprietary rights is a power relationship – By having these rights, you also get rights over
people as well
- There is a test if you trying to prove that you have a proprietary right – National Provincial Bank
v Ainsworth [1965] AC 1175 – Lord Wilberforce
o There are four characteristics – If you have a hard time trying to prove these
characteristics, you may not be able to prove that you have a proprietary right
▪ Definable - You’re able to say what the scope of the right is
▪ Identifiable by third parties – You can say whether the right exists
▪ Capable assumption by third parties – It means that the right is transferable
▪ Degree of permanence
Property as a Human Right
- Art 1 ECHR – No one should be deprived under certain conditions set out by law
- It protects people from arbitrary possession
- R v Environment – A man catching salmon on his property and was told that he couldn’t
o He argued that this was an interference with his enjoyment of the property
o The court agreed
- Art 8 – Private and Family Life, Home, and Correspondence
o Human right law is designed to apply between the state and the individual – It’s more
difficult to determine that if it is between private parties (Landlord and Tenant)
▪ McDonald – Human rights law doesn’t apply
Legal Estates and Legal Interests – This is about the estates and interests that exist at common law
- Legal in this case would common law and not equity
- Theoretically, you must get your property rights from someone above you (The feudal system)
o Allodial title – You have a right directly in the land – That’s not how the English system
works
- Quia Emptores 1290 18 Edw 1 c 1 – You’re buying a freehold estate
o It’s a grant from the Crown
Estates in Land – This is an entitlement deriving from the Crown to posses the land
- This is an entitlement against the crown rather a right directly in the land
- LPA 1925 section 1 – The rights that exist in land in common law
o The estates and interests that can exist in land are set out here
o There are two types of estates
▪ Ownership (Freehold estate in land) – S. 1(1)(a)
, ▪ Leasehold – A term of years absolute
(1)(b) – time limited right to use the land
o There are other proprietary interests in land –
Section 1(2)
▪ Easement – The right to use someone
else’s land
▪ Mortgage – A security right – Gives
someone the better to take land if a debt
is not paid
- Section 205(1)(ix) of the LPA
o The property act doesn’t simply include the physical land but also the legal claims that
go along with the land (easements…etc)
o The extent of ownership – Corbett v Hill (1870) LR 9 Eq 671
▪ You own everything under the earth and into the sky
▪ Kelsen v Imperial Tobacco
• A sign
▪ Bernstein of Leigh v Skyways & General [1978] QB 479
• Someone flew the airspace of the land – However, there are limitations
regarding whether you can control it
▪ Bocardo SA v Star Energy UK [2011] 1 AC 380
• In practice, the landowner isn’t making use of the land and deep below
the surface, they may not be able to use their rights
Lecture 3 - Revised
Derivative acquisition v Original Acquisition
- Original – You are creating new property rights
- Derivative – You get the rights from the previous owner
o The way you would figure it out is by looking at the contract – It will lay out what will be
staying and go to the buyer and what the seller takes with them
o What it says in the contract will prevail over everything else – Make sure you start by
looking at the agreement between the buyer and the seller
o You have to look what might be implied into the contract by statute and the rules of
contractual interpretation
LPA 1925 – Section 62
- A transfer (conveyance) of land includes everything that is set out this section – there are many
things
Fixture – Something that is fixed to the land and becomes part of the land
- Section 62 would include fixtures even if they aren’t included in the contract
- Holland v Hodgson (1872) LR 7 CP 328 – The test for a fixture:
o Degree of annexation – How strongly or firmly is the object fixed to the land
▪ Would it damage the land? Would it damage the object? Is it designed to
permanent or easily removed to a different location?
o Purpose or object of annexation – Why was it fixed in the first place? What was the
purpose of putting the object there?
▪ It’s not subjective – You don’t why someone did something
▪ It’s an objective assessment of why the object was fixed in place
- Dibble v Moore [1970] 2 QB 181
, o The way greenhouses were designed in this case meant that there was no intention for
them to remain in one spot – They were designed to be moved around
o What would a reasonable person looking at the situation would say
- Melluish v BMI 9no. 3) [1996] AC 454
o You can’t just agree that something will become a fixture
▪ You can agree to transfer something to a buyer
- Elliot v Bishop (1854) 10 Exch. 496 and Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 section 8
o Tenants have a right of removal in the case of machinery and agricultural fixtures
Elitestone Ltd v Morris [1997] 1 WLR 687
- About a chalet – Is it a fixture and become part of the land?
o It was determined that it would be so impossible to remove that you would have to
destroy the things in order to remove it – It’s not a chattel (A moveable thing)
- The case made a distinction between something that was a fixture, and something was part and
parcel of the land
- Basically, the more difficult something is to move, the more physically attached something is to
the land, the more likely it is going to be a fixture
- Spielplatz Ltd v Pearson [2015] EWCA Civ 8 - Royal Parks Ltd v Bluebird Boots Ltd
o In both cases, the same reasoning was applied
- Gilpen v Legg [2017] EWHC 3220 (Ch) – The opposite conclusion was reached
o There were corrugated beach huts – They were not fixtures because they were designed
to be taken to a different location
Botham v TSB Bank plc (1997) 73 P&CR
Borwick Development Solutions v Clear Water Fisheries
[2019] EWHC 2272 (Ch)
- Solar panels were seen as fixtures because it was fixed
to the ground with a concrete base
- Is it intended for the better enjoyment of the land? Is it
put there simply to enjoy the thing itself?
Decorative Objects
- D’Eyncourt v Gregory (1866) LR Eq 382
o If it’s part of the design, then it would be a fixture – it’s part of the land
- Just because something is ornamental and part of the design, that doesn’t necessarily mean that
it’s a fixture – It’s easy to move and would fail the Hodgson degree of annexation test – this
would also be true in the purpose of the annex (art styles can change)
o Leigh v Taylor [1902] AC 157 – Ornamental Tapestries are not fixtures
o Berkley v Poulett (1976) 241 EG 911 – Pictures fixed in recesses, marble statute, sundial
resting on a stone baluster
o Cardigan v Moore [2012] EWHC 1024 (Ch) – Paintings
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