Evolution of Land Rights in English Law

English law saw distaste for amorphous entitlements in land. It serves as rigid limits around variety of land rights that might be asserted as restrictive covenants, tenancies or as easements. The rigid limit has tackled loose, vague, or ill-define claims as lack of sufficient quantum of property in land that would qualify for enforcements against later buyers. The introduction of registered title system in 1925 created a progressively movement in England and Wales towards registration requirements. A steady inculcation of the “culture of registration” intensified the tendency towards discrete definitions of relevant rights and interests. Also, an alternative qualification of property in land came up with the view that property is not a fact or a right, but a form of community oriented responsibility. There was a movement towards a comprehensive registration of title. It called for any disposition of unregistered estate or new grants of leasehold that is or more than seven years to trigger a compulsory first registration.

Subsequently, a new regime in the form of the Land Registration Act 2002 (“LRA”) came into being. It was enacted with the vision of a future founded on the “culture of registration”. The aim is to reengineer the process of land registration to make it easier and also to enforce linking the transaction in electronic form and simultaneous registration, in respect to the express creation or transfer of concerned rights. This aim and vision ensure cultivation of the culture of registration, which will operate as the single constitutive source of rights expressly created in registered land. This Act consolidated and protect the proprietorship of registered rights in the land, which mitigates the risks of vulnerability to any adventitious or unforeseen claims. For students seeking clarity on these complex legal concepts, reliable guidance is critical. Seeking expert assistance, like law dissertation help, provides the most valuable support in navigating all the intricacies of English land law.

The former version of the LRA was the Land Registration Act 1925. Its aim was to eliminate the need for repeated title investigations and reliance on deeds. It aimed to introduce the concept of the land register. A person could consult the register to be instantly informed of the vendors and third party rights that might affect the land. It aimed to provide machinery that could facilitate conveyancing process. The LRA 1925 based its objective on firstly, the mirror principle where the register would accurately represent the land and the corresponding title; secondly, the insurance principle where the state provides a guarantee to lack of register’s accuracy; and thirdly, the curtain principle where the buyer does not need to know the reason behind notices of the register. This LRA 1925 did not deal with the substantive differences in law between that of registered and unregistered systems. Title deeds conveyancing is based on possession concept. Registered system is based on registration concept.

The LRA contributed to the creation of legal estates in the land. It provides for voluntary registration, which is incentivised by lower transaction fees if one registers before action that could trigger compulsory registration, and compulsory registration, which covers different action, such as transfer of legal fee simple or transfer or grant of lease more than 7 years before its expiration. Such registration is in view of the aim of the LRA to make the registration process easier and at the same time create effective rights or legal estates in the land. Thus, once all formalities of registration are complete, the legal rights created out of the registration will become the legal estates in the land. The LRA requires minimum documentation requirement to create the legal estates. It requires a deed or a formal writing except for a few exceptions. In this respect, LRA, s58 vests the legal estates, upon registration, on the person to whom the estate is registered, even if he is not entitled to it. The LRA has left a limited class of estate that would have subsisted. They would be ranked legal estates through informal writing or created orally without adhering to the registration formalities, for example lease not more than three years.

Irrespective of the introduction of the LRA and its aim to facilitate the culture of registration, it has also left some area that calls for consideration. The existence of unregistered interests on an estate’s register, for example, leases of short duration, implied legal easement or persons with equitable interests, may point to the direction that the register is not an accurate representation of interests. This may open up unexpected claims, which may bind potential buyers. Lack of registration requirement in such circumstances may place concerned persons under unnecessary burdens. On one hand, the LRA encourages and attempts to enforce registration of legal estates and on the other hand; it has left holes in the provisions that could directly or indirectly dampen its vision of culture of registration. The flaw could be explained by referring to its Section 58 that provides for the register to be conclusive, overriding possession subject to the condition that the name of the registered proprietor on the register must be correct. This was illustrated in Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd (2005). The complexity arising from this provision was seen in the case of Malory Enterprises (2002), where it was held that if there is problem with a transfer, it is for the register to confirm that the previous owner is the legal owner; however, he will hold the legal estate on trust on behalf of the ‘true’ new owner. This goes against the principle of the conclusiveness of the register and the rights created upon registration. Similar earlier problems, that of administration and protection of rights, seem to exist in the current state of the law.

The LRA has to firstly tackle the problem of any kind of unregistered legal estates, which would ensure equivalent protection to all concerned parties. It should identify all kinds of overriding interests and make necessary amendment to effectively reduce incidents of claims in that regard. Any current or potential issue regarding twin track system related to problem of existence of unregistered land should be tackled by making registration of all estates mandatorily, including electronic conveyancing as a part of transferring rights, interests or title to the land.

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