Interest in land

Question 1

Are the interests in land proprietary interests or personal interests?

Answer 1

proprietary - capable of binding a third party and are enforceable in rem

Question 2

What are the legal interests in land?

Answer 2

s1(2) LPA 1925:

• Mortgages
• Easements granted for a term equivalent to a freehold or leasehold estate (i.e. forever or for a certain term.)
• Rights of entry

Question 3

What are the equitable interest in land?

Answer 3

s1(3) LPA 1925:

• Freehold covenants
• Estate contracts
• Rights under a trust of land
• Easements granted for an uncertain term

Question 4

what is a mortgage?

Answer 4

• A mortgage is one of the interests in land which is capable of being a legal interest (LPA 1925, s 1(2)(c).)
• A loan of cash, which is secured by rights granted over property.
• It is the borrower that grants the mortgage, not the lender.

Question 5

What is an easement?

Answer 5

• An easement is a proprietary right to use land which belongs to somebody else.
• An easement must be granted for a term equivalent to one of the legal estates (ie forever, like the freehold, or for a certain period, like a lease) to be a legal easement:LPA 1925, s 1(2)(a).
• The rights benefit or burden the land, not the individual owners.

Question 6

What are examples of an easement?

Answer 6

• Right of way
• Right to park
• Right of drainage
• Right to store

Question 7

What is a right of entry?

Answer 7

Forfeiture

• A right of entry is a right for a landlord to re-enter leased premises and end the leasehold estate.
• The right of entry usually arises in the event of tenant default or some other specified event occurring, and must be expressly included within the lease.
• A right of entry is a legal interest in the land: LPA 1925, s 1(2)(e).

Question 8

What is a covenant?

Answer 8

• A covenant is a promise.
• They are a means of controlling what can and can’t be done on the part of the land being sold off.
• A restrictive covenant is not a recognised legal interest in the land. It falls underLPA 1925, s 1 (3)as being an equitable interest

Question 9

What is an estate contract?

Answer 9

• The estate contract is a contractual right to a legal estate, whether freehold or leasehold.
• Equity will order specific performance of a contract to create or transfer a legal estate, because each piece of land is regarded as unique. This, together with the maxim that ‘equity sees that as done what ought to be done’, results in an equitable interest arising from the contract.