Beginning Land Law

Glossary

Chapter 2

Chattels
Items which do not form part of the land but are treated as personal property.
Conveyancing
The process of transferring ownership in land.
Easement
A right that one landowner has over another landowner’s land.
Estate
A right to possess land.
Fixtures
Items that are treated as though they are part of the land itself.
Formalities
The legal requirements for the creation of rights and interests in land.
Hereditament
Something that is capable of being inherited. This could be something that is tangible (corporeal hereditament) or intangible (incorporeal hereditament).
Personal right
A right or permission given from one person to another that, in relation to land law, does not attach to the land itself.
Proprietary right
A right in relation to land that, in a sense, attaches itself to the land.

Chapter 3

Entries on the register
The numbered points on the registered title.
Overriding interest
An interest which is binding on third parties despite the fact that it is not registered.
Registered land
Land the title to which is registered and maintained by the Land Registry.
Registrable interest
Interests which are required to be registered against a title.
Subsidiary interests
Interests in land which are not registered with their own title but which are nevertheless registered against an existing title in order to protect them and give notice of them.
Substantive registration
Registration of rights with their own title (so registration of the freehold estate for example).
Term
In relation to  leaseholds the period for which a lease is granted.
Title
Ownership of land in terms of the estate and rights that are owned.

Chapter 4

Epitome of title
A list of documents that demonstrate ownership of a property with an unregistered title.
Land charges
Interests in relation to unregistered land that are capable of being protected by a limited form of registration.
Land charges search
A search of the register of Land Charges in order to establish whether there are binding interests in respect of an unregistered title.
Notice
Knowledge of rights or interests in relation to unregistered land. Importantly this knowledge can be actual or implied.
Overreaching
A principle by which equitable interests under a trust may be bypassed on the sale of land.
Title deeds
The collection of deeds and documents that together demonstrate ownership of a property.

Chapter 5

Joint tenancy
A form of co-ownership where each owner is entitled to the whole of the property and there are no distinct shares.
Severance
The mechanism by which a joint tenancy is converted into a tenancy in common.
Survivorship
The mechanism by which when a joint tenant dies the remaining joint tenant(s) absorb ownership of the whole.
Tenancy in common
A form of co-ownership where each owner is entitled to a distinct share of the property. A tenancy in common can only exist in equity.

Chapter 6

Exclusive possession
Said to be the true hallmark of a lease this allows a tenant rights to occupy without interference, even from the landlord.
Landlord
The owner of the freehold title who grants the lease (sometimes also referred to as the lessor).
Lease
An interest in land that is created for a defined period. It is capable of existing as an estate in land.
Periodic tenancies
A particular form of tenancy that is granted from period to period (eg week to week or year to year). These forms of tenancy are often implied.
Tenant
The person who takes the lease from the landlord (sometimes referred to as the lessee).
Term
In relation to leaseholds the period for which the lease is granted.

Chapter 7

Dispossession
The removal of the true owner from the property. This is unlikely to mean the physical removal but in relation to adverse possession is the point at which the land is occupied by a third party.
Paper title owner
A term commonly used to talk about the person who is registered as owner or holds the title deeds to a property.

Chapter 8

Deed of grant
A formal legal document that expressly grants an easement in relation to land.
Dominant tenement
Land which benefits from an easement
Easements granted
Easements which are “given” to a third party in relation to land, for example a landowner gives a neighbour rights over their land.
Easements reserved
Easements which are retained by a landowner, for example when a landowner disposes of part of their land they retain rights over it for their benefit.
Expressly granted easements
Easements which have been created using the correct legal formalities.
Implied easements
Easements which have not been expressly granted but which are created in other ways, the consequence of which is that the easement is implied to have been created using the appropriate formalities.
Quasi easements
Easements which do not exist in a literal sense but are notionally exercised by a landowner in respect of their own land. On the sale of land it is possible that these may become legal easements where certain conditions are met.
Servient tenement
Land which is burdened by an easement.
Tenement
Land.

Chapter 9

Covenantee
The person who is given the covenant and who receives the benefit of it.
Covenantor
The person who makes the covenant and gives the promise.
Positive covenant
A covenant which in substance requires positive action on behalf of the covenantor, often requiring them to spend money in order to comply.
Restrictive covenant
A covenant which in substance restricts or prohibits something in respect of land, often relating to the use of land.
Running of covenants
The ability of the benefit or burden of a covenant to be transferred to a third party on the transfer of land.
Successor in title
Someone who acquires title to property from another.

Chapter 10

Mortgagee
The lender, who takes the benefit of the mortgage.
Mortgagor
The borrower, who is subject to the terms of the mortgage.
Power of sale
The right for the lender to sell a property where the borrower defaults to recover a debt due in relation to the property.
Repossession
The right for the lender to take possession of a mortgaged property in the event of a default by the borrower.
Right of redemption
The borrower’s right to repay their mortgage and reclaim their property.