Tutorial No.

1
-The policy behind the 1925 land reforms
-Prior to 1925, all land in the UK operated on the principles of unregistered conveyancing. There
was no central record or database which told you who owned which parcel of land. Title was
established through title deeds and other documentation. This was not a safe or reliable system,
and the 1925 reforms were meant to make conveyancing easier.
-The Law of Property Act 1925 sought to clarify the law relating to estates/rights and streamline
the previous system. It was meant to operate in tandem with the Land Registration Act 1925 which
was meant
-Estates and rights that may subsist at law
-Section 1(1) of the LPA 1925 states that there are only 2 estates that may exist at law: the fee
simple absolute in possession (freehold estate) and the term of years absolute (leasehold estate).
-Section 1(2) LPA 1925 lays down the 4 rights that may exist at law: easements, rentcharge,
mortgages or a right of way.
-Unregistered land
-Today, almost 90 percent of the land in the UK is registered. However, as a small portion of the
land is still unregistered, the pre-1925 principles are operative when it comes to transaction relating
to unregistered land. There are 4 kinds of rights that may exist in unregistered land:
1. Legal rights
-In unregistered land, the maxim that “legal rights bind the world” operates. This means that if an
interest is legal i.e. it is capable of being legal and the formality requirements are fulfilled, then it
binds all future purchasers/transferees. However, rights that are not CAPABLE of being legal,
such as options to purchase, co-ownership interests have to be protected through other means.
2. Interests registrable as land charges under the Land Charges Act 1972
-To make unregistered conveyancing easier, a partial system of registration was introduced. The
Land Charges Register was established in which certain rights could be entered. The major
drawback of this system was that the interest was entered against the name of the proprietor, so a
purchaser has to check the pages relating to all previous and current owners to find if an adverse
interest was registered against them.
-All interests that are registrable as land charges are stated in Section 2 of the LCA 1972.
• Class c(i): puisne mortgage (the only legal right in this scheme)
• Class c(iii): general equitable charge (included equitable mortgages and charges not caught
elsewhere)
 • Class c(iv): estate contract. The contract itself should be in accordance for Section 2 LP
(MP) A 1989. This includes options to purchase, equitable leases (under Walsh v
Lonsdale), and equitable easements in some scenarios as well.
• Class d (ii): restrictive covenant
• Class d (iii): equitable easement
• Class F: spouse’s/civil partner’s right of occupation under the Family Law Act 1996.
-Failure to not register a charge: Class A, B, C(i), (ii), (iii) and F charges, if not registered, are void
against purchaser of any interest in land who gives valuable consideration.
-Class C(iv) and D charges, it not registered, are void against a purchaser of a legal estate in land
who gives money or money’s worth. Since these interests, if unregistered, are not binding on a
smaller category of people, they enjoy greater protection.
-Midland Bank v Green: knowledge of a registrable charge is inconsequential. This shows that
where land charges are concerned, the doctrine of notice plays no part. In this case, a father had
granted an option to purchase to his son. To destroy this option, he sold it to his wife, and even
though the wife knew of the option, she was not bound as the interest should have been registered.
3. Overreachable interests
-These are those interests whose value can be converted into money at the time of the sale. These
are equitable co-ownership interests that exist behind a trust of land.
-Section 2(1)(ii) LPA 1925 states that interests that exist behind a trust of land can be overreached.
Section 27 LPA 1925 states that the money must be paid to at least 2 trustees.
-Conditions for overreaching
• The right must be capable of being overreached
• The conveyance has to be the conveyance of a legal estate e.g. a mortgage, sale, grant of a
lease
• The interest must be capable of being valued in money: Birmingham Midhsires
Mortgage Services v Sabherwal. This implies that rights in the family home etc. are more
likely to be overreached as the family can buy a home elsewhere from the money they
receive. However, the same cannot be said for commercial interests.
-State Bank of India v Sood: In this case, there was a mortgage transaction that was carried out
by two trustees. However, money was not immediately paid in this case but was to be paid in the
future. The court interpreted the overreaching provisions very widely and stated that it was not
necessary for money to be paid immediately. This is a criticized decision for it does not adequately
ensure that the interests of the equitable owners are protected.
4. Residual category of interests that are governed by the doctrine of notice
-Interests that are not registrable as charges or that are not overreached can still be protected
through the doctrine of notice.
-There are 3 kinds of notice: actual (i.e. the person knows that the interest exists on the land),
imputed (i.e. the purchaser’s agent has knowledge of the interest) and constructive (the purchaser
knew of circumstances from which the interest would have been aware of the interest’s existence).
-Kingsnorth Finance v Tizard: A husband and wife had both contributed to the price of a home.
They separated, but the wife continued to visit the home in order to look after the children. The
husband took out a mortgage on the property and falsely claimed that he was single. The court
held that Kingsnorth was bound by the interest of the wife since they did not carry out a reasonably
careful inspection of the property, which they should have done so when they saw children were
present on the property.