Property in land

Created by: jesskeayy
Created on: 04-05-19 18:48

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Property in land
- 'Property' is the word best used to describe particular concentrations of power over things and resources.
- Property as a fact
  - Common law tradition cares little for granted/ abstract theories of ownership, preferring to look more at the organic facts of human behaviour
    - Property in land is more about fact than right; derives from 'words upon parchment'
  - Expressed a visceral insight into current balance of human power relationships in respect of land
  - Copeland v Greenhalf
  - Reilly v Booth: unrestricted used of land beyond all question passes the property or ownership in that land, and there is no easement known to law giving exclusive use of a piece of land
    - It's not an easement in this case, it's property that passes
  - Street v Mountford: if agreement satisfies all requirements of a tenancy, the agreement has produced a tenancy and parties can't alter the effect of the agreement
    - Cannot be argued to be a licence
  - Antoniades v Villers: where language of licence contradicts the reality of the lease, the facts prevail. Facts must prevail over language
  - Powell v McFarlane: showing possession: 1. factual element: must be shown the alleged possessor has been dealing with the land
    - 2. Mental element: intention to exclude the world and owner with the title if he isn't the possessor, as far as is reasonably practical and the law will allow
  - To have property in land is to stake a claim that one has some significant self-containing connection with the land. The land is some measure of one's personality/ autonomy
    - To arrogate a form of sovereignty over the land and allege that the land provides a significant psychological/ religious security
- Property as a right
  - Feudal system of holding rights in land, which, even today means in some sense, no one owns land except the crown
    - Everyone merely 'holds' land. One can only hold an estate in land
    - Rights last for a period of time and the land can be reverted to the crown- escheat
  - Shows need for strict definite boundaries: National Provincial Bank v Ainsworth
  - Need for definitional clarity in relation to: 1. the need to be able to ascertain duration of a lease from beginning of the lease
    - 2. characteristics of easements- ensure vague rights do not affect purchasers of land, preventing a reduction of marketability of the land
- Property as a responsibility
  - English law has tended not to define the content of what it means to hold an estate in land, instead focussing on how long each estate lasts for
  - Land is subject to regulatory controls e.g. in relation to urban planning, conservation of natural resources; all requiring land users to behave in particular ways
  - To 'own an estate' means to have some power over it, granting owners rights to act in certain ways to do with public interest
  - Cannot change the use of land, without planning permission in most cases
  - Having property just means having a temporary licence from the state to do certain things on land. State can change terms as they see fit
  - Infrastructure Act 2015: land registration, carbon emissions, fracking and non-native invasive species
    - Non-native species: any plant or animal listed in sch.9 Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. Or animals not included in GB, but have been introduced to GB due to human activity
      - Not incl. species as a result of climate change
        Invasive- likely to have adverse impact on biodiversity, environmental interests or society
        
        Environmental impact- disruption to ecosystems and habitats of native species
        Economic impact: cost £1.7bn a year, Japanese Knotweed accounts for £165m/year of that
    - Fracking: allows fracking under people's land without permission, protects landowners from liability for land damage and regulates company payments for use of land

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Property in land

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