It is satisfactory that a purchaser should take free from an unregistered estate contract of which he has notice?-explain illustrate
Introduction:
Whether a purchaser should take free from an unregistered estate contract of which he has notice to clarify this statement we should know what is Land, what are the interests of land, what is registered land, what is unregistered land, What constitutes title deeds in registered and unregistered land, Protection of Title, The law regarding the buying and selling of land etc. in the view of Law. Following discussion can gives us some idea regarding the subject matter.
Defining ‘Land’:
The legal definition of land has far more meanings than just the actually earth beneath our feet. What constitutes the land and therefore our belongings goes far beyond just our house and garden and there are many ways in establishing whether something like a running stream or overhanging tree belongs to us or a neighbour, whether below or above the land there could be many things within the area of our land that is legally our property.
There are many definitions for what land actually means. The statutory definition is as follows;
‘Land of any tenure, and mines and minerals, buildings or parts of buildings and other corporeal hereditaments; also incorporeal hereditaments and an easement right privilege or benefit in over or derived from land’.
Basically the law governing land is concerned with the ownership of land, the rights, interests and obligations in, or over land, the process by which ownership and those rights and obligations are created, and transferred to others.
‘Corporeal and incorporeal hereditaments are sometimes referred to together as ‘realty’ or ‘real property’, thereby distinguishing them for ‘personality’, i.e. personal or movable property.
The definition of land can also be taken from the Latin phrase, ‘cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos’. This basically translates to ‘he who owns land does so up to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth.’
1. Interests in Land
‘Interests’ are generally rights which a person enjoys over land owned by someone else. They can be divided into 2 sections, 1) rights recognised by law – legal Interests or 2) rights recognised by equity – equitable Interests.
a) Legal Interests
The interests in or over land which are capable of being legal interests are those identified in s.1(2) Law of Property Act 1925. They are:
· An easement, right or privilege in or over land equivalent to the duration of an estate in fee simple absolute in possession or a term of years absolute;
· A rent charge, i.e. the land is charged with the payment of an annual or periodic sum to a rent charge owner (this does not include rent paid under a lease);
· A charge by way of legal mortgage;
· A right of entry exercisable over or in respect of a legal term of years absolute or as an extension to a legal rent charge.
If it falls within s.1 (1) or (2) LPA 1989, a right will be legal if it has been created with proper formality, which usually means the use of a deed.
b) Equitable interests
Traditional Equitable interests include:
- The interest of a beneficiary under a trust. A trust exists when the legal estate in property is held by one person (known as a trustee) upon trust for another (known as a beneficiary), either because an express trust is created or because equity recognises that a trust exists because of the circumstances:
For example; Steve buys land with money provided by Angela. Steve will hold the legal estate in the land as a trustee on trust for Angela who is known as a beneficiary.
- The interest arising under a contract relating to a legal estate or legal interest e.g. an agreement to buy land. If Steve agrees to buy the land from Angela as soon as the agreement is made Steve will have an equitable interest in that land.
· Restrictive covenants. A restrictive covenant is a contract contained in a deed by which one person promises not to do something on his land
Interests which are not create properly
Usually a deed is required to transfer or create a legal estate or interest in land. Where an interest in land is capable of being a legal interest, but is only contained in a written agreement and does not follow the appropriate requirements of a deed the interest will only become an equitable one.
Legal interests in Land
· The two legal estates are the largest and most important of the rights to land which are recognized by law, as opposed to operating in equity. However, there are lesser rights which are accepted in law and which are not regulated to an existence in equity only. These lesser interests are called ‘legal interests or charges’ and they are listed in LPA 1925, s. 1(2). The following is a brief introduction to each of these rights.[1]
· Easements are not easily defined but are easily recognizable once encountered. Essentially, they are rights attached to one piece of land, either entitling its occupants to do something on another’s property, or preventing the owner of that other property from interfering with the passage of some benefit to the first piece of land. Thus one may have the right to walk over one’s neighbor’s land or perhaps the right to prevent the neighbor building so as to block the passage of light to one’s windows. In each case there is a piece of land which is benefited by the easement and a piece of land which is burdened with it. There are many types of easement, such as rights to storage or drainage, the right to water and a great number of others.
Related to easements, are also capable of existing at law under s. 1(2) (a), are profits a prendre. These are rights to take something from land which belongs to another estate owner; for example a right to cut wood on another’s property.
· The first thing to note about the term ‘rent charge’ is that it does not refer to rent which is payable under a lease, but to another arrangement whereby land is charged with the payment to someone of an annual or periodic sum. If money is not paid, the person with the benefit of the rent charge is entitled to enter upon the land in order to enforce payment.
At one time, and in certain parts of the country, it was rare for an estate in fee simple to be sold for a single payment of money; instead the vendor took a lump sum plus a rent charge securing an annual payment. However the Rent charges Act 1977 prevented the creation of any new rent charges of this type, provided that any existing ones are to end 60 years after the Act came into force, and gave the estate owner of the charged land the right to redeem the rent charge earlier on the payment of compensation.
The 1977 Act did not, however, abolish rent charges altogether and they may still be created for certain purposes. Thus it is still possible to leave a property to a person, subject to a rent charge obliging him to make a periodical payment to your widow or widower, or to some other member of your family, in order to provide for the maintenance of such person.
It is also still possible to create ‘estate rent charges,’ which are used to ensure that the estate owner of the charged land makes a payment towards the upkeep of facilities on other land. An example of this type is the rent charge obliging the estate owner to pay an annual sum towards the maintenance of a road on his neighbor’s property. These rent charges are a means of providing for the enforcement of positive covenants in freehold land.
For a rent charge to be a legal interest in land it must last for the same period as one of the two legal estates; that is, either in perpetuity or for a fixed period.
· A mortgage is the means whereby an estate in land is charged with the repayment of a debt or the performance of some other obligation. For example, the borrower provides security for a loan by granting a mortgage to the lender. The mortgagee obtains an estate or interest in the mortgaged property by virtue of this arrangement. If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the mortgagee may take the mortgagor’s property and sell it to satisfy the debt.
The charge by way of legal mortgage is one of the three types of mortgage recognized by LPA 1925, ss. 85-87. The other two are not mentioned in LPA 1925, s. 1(2) because they are created in a manner which gives the mortgagee a legal estate in the mortgaged property (in fact a lease) and are therefore legal by virtue of s. 1(1).
· The rather peculiar wording of this section is due to the repeal of the first four words, which originally referred to ‘land tax’ and ‘tithe rent charge.’ The charges in this category are all created by statue and are rarely encountered.
· This heading includes rights of entry included in leases or annexed to rent charges. It is usual to include in a lease a clause which allows the landlord to recover, or‘re-enter’ the property should the tenant be in breach of any of his obligations under the lease. This right is a legal right in itself under s.1 (2)(e) and is regarded as an interest in land. A similar right is usually included in a rent charge, so that the owner of the rent charge may enter and recover the land should the owner of the charged estate fail to pay the sums due.
The law concerning estates and Interests in Land
An Estate in land
An estate in land is basically the rights and interests a person has over a plot of land due to the traditional stance that all land belongs to the crown when you buy a property or land it is actually the benefits and rights of that land you actually purchase.
The 1925 Law
Major changes were made to English Land Law by what is commonly referred to as the ‘1925 legislation’. This 1925 legislation includes the following Acts, each of which came into force on 1 January 1926:
- Law of Property Act 1925
- Trustee Act 1925
- Settled Land Act 1925
- Land Registration Act 1925 (now repealed by the Land Registration Act 2002)
- Land Charges Act 1925 (now 1972)
- Administration of Estates Act 1925
The main purpose behind the creation of this law was to modernise existing Land Law and simplify the process by which rights, interest and obligations in or over land are transferred and protected.
Personal and proprietary rights
Usually rights are created by one person for the benefit of another by way of an agreement or a contract. The rights created by that agreement or contract can be either personal rights or property (usually known as proprietary) rights.
Personal rights can only be enforced by the parties to the agreement or contract A personal right is not binding on someone else (a third party) who is not a party to the contract, e.g. bare and contractual licences.
Proprietary rights are personal to the parties of the agreement or contract and also capable of binding and affecting third parties, and not only the parties to the contract. That is, they are capable of attaching to the land itself so that anybody who comes into ownership or occupation of the land may be entitled to enjoy the rights the interest gives or be subject to the obligations that it imposes.
Legal Estates
Theoretically all land belongs to the Crown. A person cannot therefore own land but owns instead a series of rights and duties in relation to that land, usually referred to as an estate in land. Today, under s.1 (1) LPA 1925 only two estates in land are recognised at law:
1. An estate in fee simple absolute in possession (‘freehold’)
2. A term of year’s absolute (‘leasehold’).
2. Registered Land: The Conveyance of Registered Land
The three parts of the Register
On first registration of title, a title number is allocated by HM Land Registry. It is subsequently used to identify the land comprised in the title (i.e. the physical extent of the land and the particular estate held in it). The Register created for each title is sub-divided into three parts:
· The Property Register
This describes the property, usually the postal address, and refers to a filed plan of the land from the Ordinance Survey Map. This may also include details of any benefits attached to the land such as any easements.
· The Proprietorship Register
This identifies the class of title which has been awarded to the land. It contains the name and address of the owner of the land. It shows whether there are any restrictions on the power of the owner to sell or mortgage the land for example.
· The Charges Register
A lender will register mortgage charges here that are created by the owner. This register will also give notice of any burdens that are attached to the land.
Compulsory first registration
The events which must be followed by first registration of title to the estate in question are now:
- A conveyance on sale of freehold land (i.e. the fee simple);
- The grant of a term of years absolute of more than 7 years;
- The assignment on sale of a lease which has more than 7 years unexpired at the date of the assignment
- The creation of a first legal mortgage of the fee simple or of a lease of more than 7 years
- Gifts made through a trust that is to be carried out during the testator’s lifetimes
- Dispositions under a court order (e.g. following a divorce).
If the requirement for registration applies, application must be made to the registrar within 2 months, beginning with the date on which the relevant event occurred.
Voluntary registration
By s 3, a person may apply to be registered as the owner of an unregistered legal estate if:
- The estate is vested in him, or
- He is entitled to require the estate to be vested in him.
An application in respect of a leasehold estate may only be made if the estate was granted for a term of more than 7 years and those years are unexpired.
Categories of interest in registered land
The most important interests that must be registered in their own right and will therefore have their own title number are:
- The fee simple;
- Leases for more than 7 years
A registered title may be:
- Absolute
- Qualified
- Possessory
- In the case of leasehold, good leasehold:
Interests protected by entry on the Register (minor interests)
The only two possible entries on to the register (apart from the registration of an estate or charge) are notices and restrictions.
Notices
A notice is an entry on the Charges Register of a title and is used to protect all those interests that are intended to bind third parties (e.g. easements, restrictive covenants and estate contracts). Notices are agreed or unilateral. If a unilateral notice is registered the owner of the estate affected must be informed by the registrar to enable the owner to apply for it to be cancelled therefore compelling the person who entered the notice to justify the entry on the register.
There are three types of notice: actual, constructive and imputed.
1. Actual notice: This is quite straightforward and applies where the purchaser has actual knowledge for the existence of the equitable interest. It is not necessary for the purchaser to obtain this information from any particular source and he may even discover the truth from a complete outsider (Lloyd v Banks (1868) LR 3 Ch App 488).
- Constructive notice: When the notice rule was first created by the courts of equity, clever purchasers soon realized that they could obtain an advantage if they declined to make any investigations which might lead to the discovery of equitable interests. Equity was quick to extend the rule to prevent purchasers deliberately ‘turning a blind eye’ in this way, as such behavior was evidence of a lack of good faith on the part of the purchaser. The means used was to say that the purchasers would be deemed to know of interests which they would have discovered if they had asked the usual questions about the property and so were bound by such interests. This rule is preserved in modern law by LPA 1925, s. 1999(1) (ii).
- Imputed notice: A purchaser is also deemed to have notice of an equitable interest if his agent has either actual or constructive notice of it. This rule is essential, since most purchasers do not conduct their own conveyance. Thus if a conveyance obtains actual notice of an equitable interest, his purchaser/client is also regarded as having notice of it (Jared v Clements [1903] 1 Ch 428).
As a result of major changes introduced by the 1925 legislation, the doctrine of notice is of less importance today, but it can still be of some significance.
The bona fide purchaser will take free of any equitable interests of which s/he does not have notice. Anyone who later acquires the legal estate from that purchaser also takes free of the equitable interest, even if s/he actually knows about it.
Restrictions
A restriction is a form of entry which places limitations on the land owner’s powers over the land. Restrictions are primarily used to protect the interests of beneficiaries under a trust of land; that is, by requiring two trustee/proprietors or a trust corporation to be party to a disposition, to ensure compliance with the overreaching machinery.
The consequences of failure to register
By s. 29 if a register able disposition of registered land with absolute title is made for valuable consideration, the transferee (purchaser/lessee/mortgagee) takes subject only to those interests which are protected by an entry on the register. The transferee will take the estate free of any unprotected interest.
Alteration of the Register and indemnity
Schedule 4 provides that the court may order alteration(s) and the Registrar may alter the Register for the purpose of:
- Correcting a mistake;
- Bringing the Register up to date; or
- Giving effect to any estate, right or interest accepted from the effect of registration.
Schedule 4, paras 3 and 6 provide that where an alteration is a rectification it cannot be made without the owner’s consent in relation to the land in his possession unless he has by fraud or lack of proper care caused or substantially contributed to the mistake or it wou1d be for any other reason unjust for the alteration not to be made. (Rectification is a form of alteration which corrects a mistake and prejudicially affects the title of the registered proprietor, thereby giving rise to an indemnity.)
Schedule 8 provides for payments by way of indemnity. A person is entitled to an indemnity from the registrar if he suffers loss by reason of a rectification of the Register or a mistake whose correction would involve rectification of the register.
3. What is Unregistered Land?
Unregistered land is land to which the title is not registered but it has its own system of partial registration (under the Land Charges Act 1972) for other rights and interests affecting the land.
In 1997 the Land Registration Act introduced the compulsory registration of land purchased after this date. This meant that the documents for any land purchased after this date were sent to the Land Registry by solicitors, to be entered onto the public record. If land was purchased before this date, owners could volunteer to register their land.
Is Unregistered Land Bad?
Unregistered land is not necessarily bad; it may just be a result of a previous owner having purchased the land prior to 1997 and never having registered it. Often people inherit land from a relative who did not register their lands with the Land Registry, and in these cases purchasers and solicitors may require the land to be registered before completion of the purchase.
It is important to consult a solicitor when purchasing unregistered land to ensure that the necessary documents can be obtained and that you will be able to register the land with the Land Registry without problems.
Documents Required
To complete a First Registration, it is important to locate all the deeds of the property. The deeds are all the documents relating to the property which can be used to show the Land Registry the chain of ownership and the current owner’s right to purchase and sell the land. Therefore, the deeds should include all documents such as conveyances, transfers, grants of probate and anything else from which the Land Registry can deduce title. If the property is leasehold, you will need to submit a copy of the lease.
Any Memoranda’s will need to be included with the documents submitted to the Land Registry, as they show any parcels of land sold or subdivided. Any mortgage notes, loan s and confirmations of payment should also be included. You will also need to show that Stamp Duty has been paid with each exchange of owner ship; normally you will find a confirmation stamp on each conveyance.
These deeds will also refer to restrictions or rights regarding the property which the Land Registry will then insert on the registered title. These rights and restrictions follow the land and they are important for each owner to be aware of.
It is important also to have the plan of the land. Often this can be found in the original conveyance or Root of Title (see next paragraph), if it is not included in a recent transaction. This plan will be used by the Land Registry to determine the boundaries of the land being registered.
Root of Title
If you read through your contract, it is likely that it will refer to an original conveyance dated much earlier. This is often named the ´Root of Title´ and it is from this original conveyance that any restrictions or rights regarding the property are referred to. It is important to locate this conveyance and each of the subsequent conveyances, transfers or grants of probate to which it refers. It is important to be able to trace the original purchase to the current owners purchase as this is the chain the Land Registry will be looking for.
Epitome of Title
An Epitome of Title is the document or table which lists all the deeds regarding the property in date order beginning with the Root of Title. The Epitome is important as it sets out clearly for the Land Registry, the chain of ownership. It also enables you to organized your deeds and ensure you have everything necessary. If you have recently inherited land, or are seeking to register land which has remained unregistered, you may find an original Epitome of Title which will make registration easier for you as you will only need to ensure it is up to date and complete.
However, if you are creating your own Epitome, then you need only set out the date, title and parties involved in a separate table and then enter in the details from your deeds. You will need to show at least 15 years of ownership.
First Registration with the Land Registry
A FR1 form can be downloaded from the Land Registry website which you need to complete and submit to the Land Registry along with the Epitome of Title and any payment as required. An up to date list of fees can be obtained from the Land Registry website, or you can contact your local office.
Be careful to ensure that your correct contact information is recorded on the FR1 Form, as the Land Registry may need to contact you for further information.
After Registration
The Land Registry will advise you if they require further documentation, or if your registration has been successful. When registration is complete they will send you a copy of the Registered Title. It is important that you check the details carefully, such as the spelling of your name, the location of the property and the correct dates. This information will be important for when you sell the property in the future. It is also important to check that you have been granted Absolute Title which you should if your deeds proved absolute ownership of the property.
If the property has been inherited or the chain of title is incomplete you will not receive Absolute Title. Also, if the property is Leasehold depending on whether the Freehold Title has been registered with the Land Registry you may not be able to obtain Absolute Title.
Unregistered land: Land charges
Nature of land charges
Land charges consist of those interests in land which are set out in LCA 1972 (which replaced LCA 1925). Only interests which are included on the list in the ACT are land charges. Interests which do appear on the list should be protected by registration on the Land Charges Register, which is one of the five different registers kept by the Land Charges Department (LCA 1971, s. 1)
Class of land charge
Land charges are divided by the 1972 Act into six classes (A to F) and certain of those classes are further subdivided.
Classes A and B
There are not particularly common. They consist of charges on land arising under statutory provisions.
Class C
This class is subdivided into four subclasses. Before considering these in detail it is important to note that rights of a type which fall within this class are registrable as land charges only if they were created on or after 1 January 1926 or, more unusually, if the right was created before that date but was itself transferred to some other holder at a later time.
- Class C (i), the puisne mortgage the puisne mortgage is defined in LCA1972, s.2 (4), as a legal mortgage which ‘is not secured by a deposit of documents relating to the legal estate affected.’ If the mortgagee does not take the deeds, the mortgage is a puisne mortgage and should be registered as a land charge.
- Class C (ii), Limited owner’s charge this is a land charge which arises when a tenant for life or statutory owner under the SLA 1925, or another person with a similar interest, has paid inheritance tax under the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. Such persons may have a right to charge the repayment of the tax against the land and that right is a land charge.
- Class C (iii), general equitable charge this class of land charge forms a kind of ‘dustbin’ category. Into this class fall all equitable charges on properties which are not specifically excluded from Class (iii) by the Act itself. Charges excluded in this way, and therefore not remittable as land charges include:
- any charge which is secured by a deposit of documents relating to the legal estate affected;
- interests arising under trusts;
- any charge which falls into another class of land charge.
- Class C (iv), estate contract An estate contract is any contract to convey or create a legal estate in land, or any option to purchase a legal estate or any right of pre-emption in respect of a legal estate. Thus in addition to contracts for the conveyance of a fee simple, and contracts for the grant or assignment of a lease, this class of land charges includes options to purchase the fee simple, and options contained in leases. Various statutes have added to this category of land charges: for example, the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995, s.20 (6) provides that a request for an overriding lease may be registered under the LCA 1972 as if it were an estate contract.
Even where an option has been registered as a Class C (iv) land charge, it has been suggested that there is a need for further registration of an estate contract after notice has been given to exercise the option. However, it was held in Armstrong and Homes Ltd v Holmes [1993] 1 WLR 1482 that there is no need for further registration: the registration of the option gives sufficient warning to any other prospective purchaser of the estate, and any conveyance to such a purchaser will be subject to the estate contract which arises from the option.
Class D
Class D is divided into three subclasses.
- Class D (i), Inland Revenue charge this is a land charge which arises in favor of the Inland Revenue when a liability to pay inheritance tax in respect of land has not been discharged.
- Class D (ii), restrictive covenants this class comprises any covenants or agreements which are restrictive of the user of land. An example would be a covenant, entered into in 1940, not to keep pets on a particular property. The same covenant would not be a registrable land charge had it been created in 1920.
- Class D (iii), equitable easements this class consists of any easement, rights or privileges affecting land which were created on or after 1 January 1926, and which are equitable only. Equitable profits a prendre fall within this definition. It should be noted that legal easements or profits are not registrable as land charges.
Class E
These are very rare and consist of annuities created before 1926 and which are not registered on the register of annuities.
Class F
This class consists of ‘home rights’ which were first created by the matrimonial Homes Act 1967 and are now contained in the Family Law Act 1996 (as amended by the Civil Partnership Act 2004). These rights exist only in relation to couples who are legally married and tocivil partners, and give a spouse or civil partner, who is not a co-owner of the matrimonial home, the right to occupy the home owned by the other spouse or civil partner.
All these classes of charge are important to a purchaser, who may find that the property which he is purchasing is less attractive or perhaps totally valueless to him because it is subject to a land charge.
Effect on registered and unregistered land
It is important to check whether the land itself is registeredor unregistered. Disregarding any transitional provisions if the land is registered the burden of an easement will be registered in the charges register of land over which it is granted. If the land is unregistered it is important to look out for a day when that land is registered as the grant of the easement will not trigger registration. You must register easement after the first registration of the land took place. Existing legal easement may have an overriding effect on first registration. In any case you should lodge a caution at land registry against first registration of the title if the land is unregistered. The benefit of the easement will be registered in the Property register of the land being purchased if the land is unregistered this benefit will trigger first registration. The rules seem a bit complicated but it is important to remember that there is a difference between registered land and unregistered land procedures in relation to the purchase of a part of one or another’s title.
4. The difference between Registered and Unregistered land
Unregistered land is land which the title is not registered but it does have its own system of registration which allows interests such as an easement to be registered and therefore protected.
The main difference between registered and unregistered land lies in the way a person proves their ownership over the land. Before the new system of registration the only way to prove ownership is by looking at the title deeds and carrying out searches and inspections of the land. This remains the case regarding unregistered land.
In cases regarding registered land, there is a single, state-guaranteed register that provides evidence of title as it stands at any given time.
Any person who suffers a loss as a result of a mistake on the register will be entitled to be indemnified for that loss.
5. What constitutes title deeds in registered and unregistered land
What are title deeds
They are a set of documents which constitute the proof of ownership of the property. They also show past transfers of ownership. They are necessary in order to transfer the property and so to deduct the title. In England it became compulsory to register land on the 1 December 1990, since this date all land in England and Wales must be registered in order to transfer legal ownership. It is necessary to differentiate between registered land and unregistered land as title deeds for each differ into a certain extent.
Registered Land
In registered land, title deeds comprise of official copies of the registered title, title plan, and any document referred to in the register. These can be found at Land registry. Land registry keeps a record of all the information about that specific property in three different registers, namely, Property Register, Proprietorship register and Charges register.
Property register
Defines and describes the property, the rights benefiting the property, its address and must also include attached plan which must correspond with the real boundaries of the property. This register can contain any rights of way or other positive rights adhered to this property. It is important to read the wording of these as they may not suit for the purposes of the use of the new owner. Common right is a right of way but this is usually specified so that it is on foot only, therefore it would be no use to someone who wants to use a vehicle at that property. A benefit of an easement may be registered in this register too. There may also be a reference to a specific conveyance which contains the rights which benefit the property. With any of these rights the Buyer may acquire an obligation and may therefore be required to contribute towards the maintenance costs, or adoption of roadways.
Proprietorship register
Contains information about who the owner is (registered proprietor), the name, class of title (absolute, qualified, possessory, leasehold), and entries affecting owner’s right of disposal.
Charges Register
This may contain various charges, covenants and any other third party rights with respect to property which may affect the owners’ rights. Common right like this is a restrictive covenant, which restricts the owner to do whatever he wants with the property and such dealings are always subject to the consent of the other person with the benefit. It is also important to check whether there were any past breaches of this covenant and make sure not to cause any as the liability passes with the ownership, like this you could end up having to pay or be responsible for other person’s fault. Charges register may contain other restriction sin relation to property e.g. mortgage. Consent of the lender will therefore be required before any disposition of the property takes place.
Unregistered Land
In unregistered land title deeds are not contained are set out in separate documents. A set of these documents is called epitome of title. Epitome is a selection of those important documents which show the history of the land concerned. E.g. what rights and encumbrances are attached to the land, who is the owner, how is the beneficial title held etc. Epitome normally contains the list of contents too. The seller is required to show the epitome to the Buyer .Title deeds therefore comprise of conveyances, mortgages any other documents such as death certificates, grants of representation, marriage certificates, deeds of easement.
Conveyance
Is a document which is an evidence of the legal transfer of the property?
Deeds of easement
Easement is a right which grants certain rights of way over the property which belongs to some other owner.
Mortgage
Represents a certain interest is in the land in return for a loan.
For leasehold property
Title deeds comprise of lease, if the lease is registered then official copies of that lease, any subsequent lease, landlord licences and rent review memoranda.
Lease
It is an agreement between the Landlord and the Tenant as to the occupation of the Landlord’s property for some consideration and for a certain period of time.
Rent review
It is a review of rent amount in certain periods of time. It is important to see in the lease whether the rent review is upwards or downwards. Upwards rent review means that the tenant will not be able to have the rent at any lower rent than it is now even if the market prices fall. On the other hand downwards rent review means that the rent can only be less than the current amount.
Landlords licences
These can be: Licence to sublet or Licence to assign, may be given to the Tenant upon the agreement between the Landlord and the Tenant.
The purchaser must acquire a legal estate
The purchaser must buy a legal estate, rather than an equitable interest in the land. Thus if the purchaser is to be safe, he must have acquired the legal estate before he discovers the equitable interest.
6. Protection of Title: How can you register your land?
The Two systems of land ownership that exists in England and Wales:
1. The registered system or registered land
2. The unregistered system or unregistered land
The main difference between the two systems lies in the way in which a person proves his ownership of (i.e. title to) land. Before the introduction of registration of title, there was only one way to establish the seller’s right to sell a property. Purchasers had to satisfy themselves from the title deeds, searches and inspection of the land that the seller had power to sell the land, and that it was subject to no undisclosed obligations. That remains the case with properties which have not yet been registered.
The law regarding the buying and selling of land:
- The Law before the 27th September 1989
“No action may be brought upon any contract for the sale or other disposition of land or any interest in land, unless the agreement upon which such action is brought, or some memorandum or note thereof, is in writing, and signed by the party to be charged or by some other person thereunto by him lawfully authorised.“
· Contracts Made on or After 27th September 1989
“A contract for the sale of an interest in land can only be made in writing and only by incorporating all the terms which the parties have expressly agreed in one document or where contracts are exchanged in each.“
7. Conclusion
In the discussion about the law of purchase of an unregistered estate, first I discuss about the land, the law concerning estates and Interests in Land, registered and unregistered land, difference between registered and unregistered land, constitutes title deeds in registered and unregistered land. And from the above discussion the main subject matter of my topicsconclude that the purchaser must buy a legal estate, rather than an equitable interest in the land. Thus if the purchaser is to be safe, he must have acquired the legal estate before he discovers the equitable interest. Before the introduction of registration of title, there was only one way to establish the seller’s right to sell a property. Purchasers had to satisfy themselves from the title deeds, searches and inspection of the land that the seller had power to sell the land, and that it was subject to no undisclosed obligations. That remains the case with properties which have not yet been registered.
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