All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter consists of an introduction to one of the core parts of modern land law: land registration. It provides a relatively brief introduction to the idea of registration of title and examines some of the key aims of the Land Registration Act 2002, looking at how the special features of land can explain the prominence of registration systems in land law and considering, in particular, the means by which the Act protects registered parties and the circumstances in which that protection is limited.
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Chapter
3. Registration
Chapter
3. Registration
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter consists of an introduction to one of the core parts of modern land law: land registration. It provides a relatively brief introduction to the idea of registration of title and examines some of the key aims of the Land Registration Act 2002, looking at how the special features of land can explain the prominence of registration systems in land law and considering, in particular, the means by which the Act protects registered parties and the circumstances in which that protection is limited.
Chapter
6. Successive Interests and Trusts of Land
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, bullet-pointed answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and illustrative diagrams and flowcharts. This chapter examines trusts of land, and at the fact that these have been simplified and made more coherent by the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TLATA 1996); and includes applications for sale of land held under a trust for sale under the TLATA 1996; and rights of beneficiaries, who may sometimes be given additional powers under TLATA 1996 or may have certain TLATA powers restricted.
Chapter
3. Registered land
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses registered land. Registered land is land where title has been registered at the Land Registry. The objective behind registered land is to create a register which accurately reflects the state of registered property, both in terms of its current owner and any third party proprietary interests affecting it. Once registered, subsequent disposals of the freehold, or leasehold of more than seven years in duration, must be completed by registration to confer legal title (s 27 Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002)). When registering title to land, the specific class of title registered will reflect the strength of that title; with the strongest and most common class registered being absolute title. In principle, third party proprietary interests will only affect a purchaser of registered land where they have been entered on the register, typically as a notice but sometimes (where a beneficial interest under a trust) as a restriction.
Chapter
2. Registered Land
This chapter offers a detailed account of how land registration operates under the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). The LRA 2002 is the primary source of our title registration system and provides the statutory framework for the modern law. This chapter unpacks the LRA 2002 which governs land registration today: its objectives, mechanics, as well as exploring the implications of registration for the enforceability of interests in land. The chapter therefore first serves to clarify and cement the idea or the concept of registration before turning to examine more closely the nuts and bolts of how our contemporary registration system functions.
Chapter
15. The Priority Triangle
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter addresses the question of when C can have a defence to B’s pre-existing property right. It thus covers the basic principles that apply when answering the priority question. It examines how a court determines which of two competing property rights arose first. It also examines exceptions to the basic rule, acknowledged by s 28 of the Land Registration Act 2002, that B’s property right, where it arises before C’s property right, will take priority.
Chapter
3. Registered and Unregistered Land
This chapter discusses one of the most important components of the land law system: the registration of title to land. This is the system whereby rights in land are recorded on a publically available register. The chapter first examines some of the history of English land law in the 20th and 21st centuries, considering the 1925 reforms and the Land Registration Act 2002. It also describes what the land register is, and how it fits into the system of rights in land. Land registration essentially contains three guiding rules. Certain rights must be registered to be created. Once registered, the effect of such rights is determined by their registered status. The relationship between the right-holder and third parties who later acquire rights in, or transact in relation to, the relevant land is, again, determined by registration. The register therefore has three functions: it controls creation of rights, the effects of such rights, and the interaction between rights. In this sense, registration fundamentally determines how land law works. The chapter then looks at the principles of conveyancing in unregistered land.
Chapter
15. The Priority Triangle
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter addresses the question of when C can have a defence to B’s pre-existing property right. It thus covers the basic principles that apply when answering the priority question. It examines how a court determines which of two competing property rights arose first. It also examines exceptions to the basic rule, acknowledged by s 28 of the Land Registration Act 2002 that B’s property right, where it arises before C’s property right, will take priority.
Chapter
2. Registered Land
This chapter offers a detailed account of how land registration operates under the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). The LRA 2002 is the primary source of our title registration system and provides the statutory framework for the modern law. As of 2023, 88 per cent of titles in the total land mass in England and Wales is registered; that’s over 26 million registered titles, leaving just 12 per cent of titles land unregistered. The significance of this is that, today, the vast majority of dealings with land now engage registered land principles. This chapter unpacks the LRA 2002: its aims and objectives, mechanics of registered land, as well as exploring the implications of registration for the enforceability of interests in land.
Chapter
6. Registered land
Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on Land Law provides an accessible overview of one key area on the law curriculum. The Land Registration Act 1925, which governed the system of registered land, was repealed and replaced by the Land Registration Act 2002, which in the main came into force on 13 October 2003. This chapter focuses on the terms of the 2002 Act and the rules made under it (Land Registration Rules 2003). The discussion covers the basics of land registration, including the appearance of the land register and the types of entry that can be made on it; the process of first registration of unregistered land; the formalities for transferring and creating rights in registered land; the protection of purchasers of registered land and the role of overriding interests; and the circumstances in which the register can be changed and those who have suffered loss by reason of the registration system can be indemnified by the state. It illustrates the law by reference to the case of Mr and Mrs Armstrong who were introduced in Chapter 3 as buyers of a registered freehold estate, 1 Trant Way.
Chapter
6. Adverse possession
This chapter discusses the law on adverse possession. It first considers arguments for and against allowing adverse possession. It then describes changes in the law of adverse possession and outlines the main statutory provisions, namely the Limitation Act 1980, the Land Registration Act 1925, and the Land Registration Act 2002. Next, the chapter discusses what a squatter needs to show in order to make a claim to the land and the effects of adverse possession. The old scheme under the Limitation Act 1980 and the new scheme under the Land Registration Act 2002 are compared.
Chapter
4. Registered Title and the Acquisition of Legal Estates
This chapter examines both the acquisition question and the content question in relation to legal estates within the context of the Land Registration Act 2002. More specifically, it considers how legal estates in land are created and transferred. It also explores the principles that lie behind the registration of title as well as the content of a registered title. After describing the formal acquisition of legal estates, the chapter focuses on the content of a registered title. It then analyses the extent to which a registered title is indefeasible in the light of case law on the effect of fraudulent transactions. It also explains how legal estates can be acquired informally through adverse possession and concludes with a discussion of the human rights aspect of adverse possession.
Chapter
1. What is Land Law?
This chapter introduces the reader to land law and explains why land law is studied at all. It also tackles three fundamental questions that are used to understand and structure the often complex rules encountered in land law: the content, acquisition, and defences questions. Three specific case law examples are discussed: National Provincial Bank v Ainsworth (1965), Williams & Glyn's Bank v Boland (1981), and City of London Building Society v Flegg (1988). Other topics covered in this chapter include: the importance of the statutory framework established by the Law of Property Act 1925 and the Land Registration Act 2002; the focus of land law on private rights to use land; the key distinction between personal rights and property rights; the importance of equitable rules and of statute in shaping land law; and the key role played by land registration in modern land law.
Chapter
11. The Defences Question
This chapter examines land law's priority rules, conceptualized as the defences question. Priority rules refer to a set of rules that determine the circumstances in which a property right held by one party (B) against another party's title (A) can be enforced when A transfers the title to a third party (C) or grants a mortgage over the title to C as security for a loan. The chapter considers the circumstances in which C has a defence against B's claim to priority, focusing on priority rules that apply in registered land. It also discusses the specific rules provided in the Land Registration Act 2002 for registered dispositions of registered estates for valuable consideration and two defences that operate outside the provisions of the Act; the defence of consent and overreaching.
Chapter
8. Formal Methods of Acquisition: Contracts, Deeds, and Registration
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter describes the formality requirements that must be complied with for the creation or transfer of legal estates and interests in land. The three stages of creating and transferring legal rights are contract, creation or transfer, and registration. The Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 provides the formality requirements for contracts and made the consequences of non-compliance more severe. Under s 2 of the 1989 Act, a contract may take the form of a single document signed by both parties or an exchange of documents, each of which has been signed by one of the parties. The chapter considers the requirements of s 2 and the consequences of non-compliance, including concepts which may assist a party to acquire a right, even if the agreement does not seem to comply with s 2. The operation of proprietary estoppel and of constructive trusts is thus examined. The requirement of registration is considered, along with the problems that arise from the ‘registration gap’ and the possible effects of e-conveyancing.
Chapter
9. Adverse Possession
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter investigates in detail adverse possession. The acquisition of title by adverse possession consists of two distinct stages: first, the inception of adverse possession; and, secondly, the operation of limitation rules at the end of the requisite period of adverse possession. The concept of adverse possession reflects ideas underlying unregistered titles. The operation of adverse possession is generally incompatible with the ideas underpinning registration of title and this led to significant reforms in the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). The LRA 2002 provides a new scheme of adverse possession through which title is obtained by registration, rather than by possession. A criminal offence of squatting in a residential building was introduced in 2012, but it has been held that the commission of the offence does not preclude a claim to title by adverse possession under the LRA 2002. Adverse possession rules have also been held to be human rights compliant.
Chapter
16. Priorities in Registered Land
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter explores the defences against pre-existing property rights that are available to a party who acquires for value and registers a right in registered land. The Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) offers a distinct set of priority rules for one category of transaction: a registrable disposition of a registered estate for valuable consideration. The chapter analyses the priority rules applicable to such transactions, including the effect of the entry of a land registry notice, the category of ‘overriding interests’ (property rights immune to a lack of registration defence), and limitations on the powers of a registered owner. It concludes by examining the policy of the LRA 2002 to transactions that are tainted by fraud or wrongdoing that is not such as to invalidate the transaction. Such transactions may result, under the general law, in the creation of new direct rights which may, for example, impose personal liability on a registered party.
Chapter
18. Reform of the Land Registration Act 2002
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter looks at Law Commission proposals to reform the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). It focuses on reforms that relate to situations where there are gaps in the protection of a registered party: rectification and overriding interests. The current law on rectification in three-party cases and the reforms proposed by the Law Commission are considered. The chapter not only looks at the Law Commission’s proposals on overriding interests, but also other ideas for reform, such as the extension of indemnity payments. It contrasts the rhetoric in the Law Commission’s more recent work with that which preceded the LRA 2002 and notes how the later proposals are based on a more nuanced approach, which balances the need of a registered party against other policy concerns.
Chapter
5. Land Registration
This chapter explores how the English land law land registration system works in practice. The land registration system achieves three goals. The first is as a method of controlling the way in which rights are created. The second is in terms of managing the effect of such rights, once they have been created. The third is as a means to regulate the interactions between different proprietary rights which exist in relation to the same piece of land. The chapter considers the first two functions: mode of rights creation and effect of rights creation. It then looks at what happens when these functions go wrong within the system — how do the principles of registered land interact with the inevitable reality of both human error and human creativity? In answering this issue, the chapter considers how the register is rectified and altered. Finally, it examines potential reforms, including those proposed by the Law Commission, and the possibility of the advent of e-conveyancing. The Law Commission has now begun the process of bringing about reform of the Land Registration Act 2002 to allow for the smoother operation of the registration system in cases of error.
Chapter
16. Priorities in Registered Land
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter explores the defences against pre-existing property rights that are available to a party who acquires for value and registers a right in registered land. The Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) offers a distinct set of priority rules for one category of transaction: a registrable disposition of a registered estate for valuable consideration. The chapter analyses the priority rules applicable to such transactions, including the effect of the entry of a land registry notice, the category of ‘overriding interests’ (property rights immune to a lack-of-registration defence), and limitations on the powers of a registered owner. The chapter concludes by examining the policy of the LRA 2002 to transactions that are tainted by fraud or wrongdoing that is not such as to invalidate the transaction. Such transactions may result, under the general law, in the creation of new direct rights which may, for example, impose personal liability on a registered party.
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