Land Law (LNL): essential SQE1 knowledgeLand Law is examined in FLK2 and represents 14–20% of the 180-question paper, approximately 25–36 questions. Ethics and professional conduct are assessed throug…
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Overview
Land Law (LNL): essential SQE1 knowledge
Land Law is examined in FLK2 and represents 14–20% of the 180-question paper, approximately 25–36 questions. Ethics and professional conduct are assessed throughout. Official SRA SQE1 blueprint
Land Law concerns the underlying ownership and enforceability of rights in land. It should be distinguished from Property Law and Practice, which concerns the practical conduct of property transactions.
The official syllabus covers:
Nature and transfer of land
Registered and unregistered title
Co-ownership and trusts of land
Easements
Freehold covenants
Mortgages
Leases and licences
Leasehold covenants and remedies
1. Land and personal property
Candidates should distinguish:
Real property
Personal property
Fixtures
Chattels
Land includes:
The surface
Buildings
Fixtures
Mines and minerals, subject to exceptions
Airspace and subsoil to the legally recognised extent
Rights forming part of the land
The principal question is whether an object has become a fixture and therefore passes with the land.
2. Fixtures and chattels
Apply two principal tests:
Degree of annexation
The more firmly an object is attached, the more likely it is a fixture.
An object resting only by its own weight is presumed to be a chattel unless circumstances indicate otherwise.
Purpose of annexation
Ask whether attachment was intended:
To improve the land or building, suggesting a fixture, or
Merely to enable enjoyment of the object itself, suggesting a chattel
Purpose is usually more important than the subjective intention of the owner.
Key cases include:
Holland v Hodgson
Berkley v Poulett
Botham v TSB Bank
Elitestone Ltd v Morris
3. Legal estates
Only two estates can exist as legal estates:
Fee simple absolute in possession, usually called freehold
Term of years absolute, usually called leasehold
Other property rights may exist as:
Legal interests
Equitable interests
Personal rights
This classification determines:
Creation formalities
Registration
Priority
Remedies
Whether a purchaser is bound
4. Legal interests
Under section 1(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925, recognised legal interests include:
Easements, rights and privileges for an equivalent legal estate
Rentcharges
Legal mortgages
Certain rights of entry
To exist at law, the interest generally must:
Be capable of being legal
Be created with the required formalities
Be registered where registration is required
Otherwise, it may exist only in equity.
5. Equitable interests
Examples include:
Beneficial interest under a trust
Estate contract
Restrictive covenant
Equitable easement
Equitable mortgage
Beneficial interest arising through resulting or constructive trust
Option to purchase
Right of pre-emption once proprietary
Equitable rights may bind purchasers depending on:
Registration
Notice
Actual occupation
Overreaching
Applicable priority rules
6. Contracts concerning land
A contract for the sale or other disposition of an interest in land generally must satisfy section 2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989:
In writing
Incorporating all expressly agreed terms
In one document or exchanged counterparts
Signed by or on behalf of each party
Failure ordinarily prevents creation of an enforceable contract.
Potentially relevant exceptions include:
Resulting trusts
Constructive trusts
Proprietary estoppel
Short leases taking effect in possession in appropriate circumstances
7. Deeds
A deed must generally:
Make clear on its face that it is intended to be a deed
Be validly executed
Be delivered as a deed
For an individual, execution ordinarily requires:
Signature in the presence of a witness who attests, or
Signature by another person at the individual’s direction and in the presence of two witnesses
Delivery means an intention to be bound, not necessarily physical handover.
A deed is normally required to transfer a legal estate or create a legal interest.
8. Registered land
The Land Registration Act 2002 governs registered land.
Candidates should understand:
Title is evidenced principally by the register
Registrable dispositions
Priority rules
Notices and restrictions
Overriding interests
Alteration and rectification
Registration gap
Effect of failure to register
The register contains:
Property Register
Proprietorship Register
Charges Register
9. Estates capable of substantive registration
These principally include:
Freehold estate
Leasehold estate granted for more than seven years
Certain shorter leases with special characteristics
Rentcharges
Franchises
Profits à prendre in gross
Registration may be:
Compulsory
Voluntary
Required to complete a registrable disposition
10. Registrable dispositions
Important dispositions requiring registration include:
Transfer of registered freehold
Grant of lease for more than seven years
Transfer of qualifying registered lease
Express grant or reservation of legal easement
Creation of legal charge
If registration is required but not completed:
The disposition does not take effect at law as intended
It may operate only in equity
The transferor may continue to hold legal title
Priority may be lost
11. Priority in registered land
The basic rule is that interests retain their priority according to creation.
However, following a registrable disposition of a registered estate for valuable consideration, the purchaser generally takes subject only to:
Interests protected on the register
Overriding interests
Certain statutory exceptions
A purchaser for value may therefore postpone an earlier equitable interest that was neither protected nor overriding.
A donee generally takes subject to existing interests because the special purchaser-for-value priority rule does not apply.
12. Notices
A notice protects the priority of an interest affecting a registered estate.
Types include:
Agreed notice
Unilateral notice
A notice does not:
Prove that the interest is valid
Automatically create the interest
Prevent every disposition
It protects priority if the underlying interest is valid.
Interests commonly protected by notice include:
Estate contracts
Options
Restrictive covenants
Equitable easements
13. Restrictions
A restriction regulates the circumstances in which a disposition may be registered.
It may protect:
Beneficiaries under a trust
Compliance with a consent requirement
A co-ownership arrangement
Insolvency restrictions
Contractual control over dispositions
A restriction differs from a notice:
Notice protects priority of an interest
Restriction controls registration of a disposition
14. Overriding interests
Certain rights can bind a purchaser despite not appearing on the register.
The most important include:
Short legal leases, subject to statutory exceptions
Interests of persons in actual occupation
Certain legal easements and profits
Some public or local rights
Overriding status is exceptional and should not be assumed merely because a person possesses an equitable interest.
15. Actual occupation
An equitable interest may override where its holder is in actual occupation at the relevant time.
Candidates should consider:
Physical presence
Permanence and continuity
Nature of the property
Temporary absence
Intention to return
Evidence of occupation
Whether occupation would have been obvious on reasonably careful inspection
Whether the purchaser made enquiry
Whether the occupier failed to disclose when reasonably expected to do so
Actual occupation does not itself create an interest. The person must first have a valid proprietary interest.
Key cases include:
Williams & Glyn’s Bank v Boland
Abbey National Building Society v Cann
Chhokar v Chhokar
Link Lending v Bustard
16. Overreaching
Overreaching detaches a beneficial interest from the land and transfers it to the purchase money.
It generally requires capital money to be paid to:
At least two trustees, or
A trust corporation
Consequences:
Purchaser takes free of the beneficial interest
Beneficiary’s rights attach to the proceeds
Actual occupation does not prevent effective overreaching
If money is paid to only one individual trustee, overreaching may fail.
Key authorities include:
City of London Building Society v Flegg
Williams & Glyn’s Bank v Boland
17. Unregistered land
In unregistered land, title is established through:
Title deeds
Documentary chain of ownership
Good root of title
Land Charges registration
Doctrine of notice for residual equitable interests
Possession and occupation
A purchaser investigates whether the seller can prove good title.
18. Land Charges system
Certain interests affecting unregistered land must be registered under the Land Charges Act 1972 against the estate owner’s name.
Important classes include:
Class
Typical interest
C(i)
Puisne mortgage
C(iii)
General equitable charge
C(iv)
Estate contract
D(ii)
Restrictive covenant
D(iii)
Equitable easement
F
Matrimonial or home rights
Correct registration generally binds purchasers regardless of actual knowledge.
Failure to register may make the interest void against the relevant purchaser, even where the purchaser knew about it.
19. Doctrine of notice
The doctrine of notice continues to apply to equitable interests in unregistered land that fall outside the Land Charges registration scheme.
A bona fide purchaser of a legal estate for value without notice takes free of the equitable interest.
Notice may be:
Actual
Constructive
Imputed
A purchaser has constructive notice of matters that reasonable inspection and enquiry would have revealed.
20. Co-ownership: legal title
Legal title can be held only as a joint tenancy.
Consequences include:
Maximum of four legal owners
All legal owners must be adults
No distinct legal shares
Right of survivorship
Legal title cannot be severed into a tenancy in common
Where land is intended for more than four persons, the first four named adult owners ordinarily hold the legal estate on trust for all beneficial owners.
21. Beneficial co-ownership
The beneficial interest may be held as:
Joint tenants
Tenants in common
Beneficial joint tenancy
Features:
No distinct shares
Right of survivorship
Four unities
Interest can be severed
Tenancy in common
Features:
Distinct undivided shares
No survivorship
Shares pass by will or intestacy
Shares may be equal or unequal
22. Four unities
A joint tenancy traditionally requires unity of:
Possession
Interest
Title
Time
Equity may favour a tenancy in common where:
Unequal contributions suggest separate shares
The property is acquired for business purposes
Mortgagees hold security
The wording indicates distinct shares
The parties agree expressly
An express declaration of trust is generally conclusive in the absence of vitiating factors.
23. Severance
A beneficial joint tenancy may be severed by:
Written notice under section 36(2) LPA 1925
Operating on one’s own share
Mutual agreement
Course of dealing
Bankruptcy
Unlawful killing in appropriate circumstances
Severance:
Converts the severing owner’s beneficial interest into a tenancy-in-common share
Does not sever the legal title
Does not usually change the size of existing shares
24. Written notice of severance
A notice must demonstrate an immediate intention to sever, not merely a future desire.
Service may be effective through:
Leaving it at the recipient’s last known residence or place of business
Sending it by recorded or registered post, subject to statutory rules
Other proven delivery
Actual reading may not always be required where statutory service is effective.
Key cases include:
Harris v Goddard
Kinch v Bullard
25. Trusts of land and TOLATA
Co-owned land is generally held on a trust of land under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.
Trustees generally have broad powers of an absolute owner, subject to:
Trust instrument
Statutory duties
Consultation obligations
Beneficiaries’ interests
Court orders
Disputes may be brought under section 14 TOLATA.
26. Section 14 and section 15 TOLATA
The court may determine matters including:
Whether land should be sold
Who may occupy
Extent of beneficial interests
Exercise of trustees’ functions
Under section 15, the court considers:
Intentions of the person or persons who created the trust
Purpose for which the property is held
Welfare of minors occupying or expected to occupy
Interests of secured creditors
Circumstances and wishes of beneficiaries where relevant
No factor is automatically decisive.
27. Trusts of the family home
Where beneficial ownership is disputed, candidates should distinguish:
Express declaration of trust
Resulting trust
Common-intention constructive trust
Proprietary estoppel
Where an express declaration states the beneficial shares, it is ordinarily conclusive unless successfully challenged through doctrines such as:
Fraud
Mistake
Undue influence
Proprietary estoppel
Later variation
28. Common-intention constructive trusts
The broad questions are:
Was there a common intention concerning beneficial ownership?
Did the claimant rely detrimentally on that intention?
What share should be attributed?
Common intention may arise from:
Express discussions
Direct financial contributions
Whole course of conduct in joint-name cases
Key authorities include:
Lloyds Bank v Rosset
Stack v Dowden
Jones v Kernott
This area overlaps with Trusts Law.
29. Easements
An easement is a proprietary right enjoyed by one parcel of land over another.
Examples include rights of:
Way
Parking
Drainage
Support
Light
Storage in appropriate circumstances
Use of services
The benefiting land is the dominant tenement and the burdened land is the servient tenement.
30. Characteristics of an easement
Under Re Ellenborough Park:
There must be a dominant and servient tenement.
The right must accommodate the dominant tenement.
The dominant and servient owners must be different persons.
The right must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant.
A right may fail as an easement if it:
Is too vague
Amounts to exclusive possession
Depends solely on personal characteristics
Imposes a positive expenditure obligation on the servient owner
Has no sufficient connection with the dominant land
31. Creation of easements
An easement may arise by:
Express grant
Express reservation
Implied grant
Implied reservation
Necessity
Common intention
Rule in Wheeldon v Burrows
Section 62 LPA 1925
Prescription
Statute
A legal easement generally requires a deed and, in registered land, completion by registration where required.
32. Easement of necessity
An easement of necessity may arise where:
Land cannot be used at all without the right
The dominant and servient land were formerly in common ownership
The necessity existed at the time of disposition
Mere inconvenience or expense is insufficient.
It is not enough that the claimed route is easier or more commercially useful.
33. Common-intention easements
An easement may be implied where:
Both parties intended the land to be used in a particular way
The claimed right is necessary to give effect to that shared intention
The requirement is less strict than absolute necessity but requires evidence of a genuine common purpose.
34. Wheeldon v Burrows
On the grant of part of land, the transferee may obtain quasi-easements that were:
Continuous and apparent
Necessary for reasonable enjoyment
Used by the common owner for the benefit of the part transferred
In use at the time of the grant
The rule principally operates as an implied grant, not an implied reservation.
35. Section 62 LPA 1925
Section 62 may transform certain existing privileges into full easements on a conveyance.
Candidates should consider:
Prior diversity of occupation or use
Existing privilege
Conveyance of land
Contrary intention in the document
Whether the right was sufficiently connected with the land
Its potential operation is broader than Wheeldon v Burrows.
36. Prescription
An easement may arise from long use that is:
Without force
Without secrecy
Without permission
This is commonly expressed as nec vi, nec clam, nec precario.
Routes include:
Common law prescription
Lost modern grant
Prescription Act 1832
Candidates should identify:
Relevant period of use
Correct users and owners
Whether use was continuous enough
Whether permission defeats prescription
Whether the right is capable of being an easement
37. Extent and excessive use of easements
The easement’s scope depends on:
Terms of the grant
Circumstances at creation
Nature of the dominant land
Foreseeable development
Intensity of use
A change in use may be prohibited where it:
Exceeds the granted right
Substantially increases the burden
Uses the easement to benefit other land, known as misuse for a non-dominant tenement
38. Extinguishment of easements
An easement may end by:
Express release
Implied release
Abandonment
Unity of ownership and possession
Statute
Expiry or condition
Permanent alteration making exercise impossible
Mere non-use is not necessarily abandonment. Intention permanently to abandon must ordinarily be demonstrated.
39. Freehold covenants
A freehold covenant is a promise concerning freehold land.
Candidates must distinguish:
Positive covenant
Restrictive covenant
Benefit
Burden
Common-law enforcement
Equitable enforcement
Examples:
Restrictive: not to build more than one house
Positive: maintain a fence or contribute to a private road
40. Burden of restrictive covenants in equity
Under Tulk v Moxhay, the burden may run in equity where:
Covenant is negative in substance
It benefits identifiable land of the covenantee
Parties intended the burden to run
Successor has notice or is bound under registration rules
The claimant must also establish entitlement to the benefit.
41. Burden of positive covenants
The burden of a positive freehold covenant does not generally run with freehold land at common law or in equity.
Possible mechanisms include:
Chain of indemnity covenants
Estate rentcharge
Leasehold structure
Benefit-and-burden principle
Mutual benefit arrangements
Direct covenant with successor
Commonhold, where applicable
A chain of indemnity does not itself make the positive covenant directly enforceable against every successor.
42. Benefit of covenants
The benefit may pass through:
Express annexation
Statutory annexation
Express assignment
Building scheme
Common-law rules in suitable cases
Candidates should determine:
Which land was intended to benefit
Whether it is identifiable
Whether the claimant owns that land
Whether assignment occurred with the transfer
Whether a building scheme exists
43. Building schemes
A restrictive covenant may be mutually enforceable among owners within a defined development where requirements broadly include:
Common vendor
Defined area
Common scheme of restrictions
Intention of mutual enforceability
Purchasers acquired on that basis
A building scheme gives owners reciprocal rights to enforce restrictions.
44. Modification or discharge of restrictive covenants
An application may be made under section 84 LPA 1925 on grounds including:
Covenant is obsolete
It impedes reasonable use
Beneficiary agreed
No injury would result
The Upper Tribunal may:
Modify
Discharge
Award compensation
Refuse the application
A planning permission does not itself override a restrictive covenant.
45. Mortgages
A mortgage is security for repayment of a debt.
Candidates should understand:
Legal charge
Equitable mortgage
Mortgagor’s equity of redemption
Priority between mortgages
Undue influence
Mortgagee remedies
Protection of occupiers and later interests
A registered legal mortgage is normally created by a charge by deed and completed by registration.
46. Equity of redemption
The mortgagor has an equitable right to recover the property upon repayment.
A provision is potentially invalid if it:
Prevents redemption
Makes redemption illusory
Continues as an oppressive collateral advantage
Is unconscionable
Constitutes a “clog” on the equity of redemption
However, not every collateral commercial benefit is invalid.
47. Undue influence and mortgages
Where one person guarantees or charges their interest for another’s debts, the lender should consider the risk of undue influence.
Under Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2), the lender may need to ensure:
Independent legal advice
Direct communication with the adviser
Explanation of transaction and risks
Confirmation that advice was given
Absence of obvious irregularity
If put on inquiry and failing to take reasonable steps, the lender may be bound by the undue influence.
48. Priority of mortgages
Priority generally depends on:
Legal or equitable status
Order of creation
Registration
Notice
Statutory priority rules
Postponing conduct
Further advances
In registered land, a registered charge may obtain priority through registration, subject to protected and overriding interests.
In unregistered land, Land Charges registration and legal-estate principles are important.
49. Mortgagee remedies
The lender may potentially use:
Action for the debt
Possession
Sale
Appointment of receiver
Foreclosure
These remedies are cumulative but controlled by:
Statute
Mortgage terms
Equitable principles
Regulatory requirements
Consumer protections
Court discretion
50. Right to possession
At common law, a legal mortgagee may have an immediate right to possession, subject to:
Mortgage terms
Statutory protections
Court powers
Regulatory obligations
Human-rights considerations in applicable cases
For residential property, the court may adjourn, stay, suspend or postpone possession where the borrower is likely to pay within a reasonable period.
Key authority:
Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society v Norgan
51. Power of sale
The statutory power of sale generally arises when the mortgage money has become due.
It becomes exercisable when the relevant statutory conditions are met, such as:
Notice requiring payment and continuing default
Interest arrears for the statutory period
Breach of another mortgage provision
Candidates must distinguish:
Power arising
Power becoming exercisable
Purchaser obtaining good title
Mortgagee’s possible liability for improper exercise
52. Mortgagee’s duty on sale
A mortgagee selling must:
Act in good faith
Take reasonable care to obtain the true market value at the time
Not sacrifice the property unnecessarily
Consider proper marketing and valuation
The mortgagee need not:
Wait indefinitely for a better market
Improve the property
Prioritise the borrower over its own legitimate recovery
Key cases include:
Cuckmere Brick Co v Mutual Finance
Silven Properties v Royal Bank of Scotland
53. Distribution of sale proceeds
Mortgage sale proceeds are generally applied toward:
Proper costs and expenses of sale
Discharge of prior mortgages
Repayment of the selling mortgagee
Subsequent mortgages in priority order
Balance to the mortgagor
The purchaser is ordinarily protected from disputes about how the mortgagee applies the proceeds.
54. Lease or licence
A lease requires:
Exclusive possession
For a term certain
Usually rent, although rent is not indispensable
A licence is personal permission to occupy and does not create an estate in land.
The court considers substance rather than labels.
Key authority:
Street v Mountford
55. Exclusive possession
Exclusive possession means the right to exclude others, including the landlord except under reserved rights.
Factors suggesting a licence may include:
Genuine attendance or services inconsistent with exclusive possession
No identifiable premises
Genuine sharing arrangements
Lack of legal intention in domestic or charitable circumstances
Artificial clauses designed only to disguise a tenancy may be disregarded.
56. Term certain
A lease must have a certain maximum duration.
The term may be:
Fixed
Periodic
Determinable on a specified event within legal limits
An uncertain term such as “for the duration of the war” cannot ordinarily create a valid lease at common law.
Key authorities include:
Lace v Chantler
Prudential Assurance v London Residuary Body
57. Formalities for leases
Legal lease exceeding three years
Generally requires a deed.
Short legal lease
A lease taking effect in possession for no more than three years at the best rent, without a fine, may be created orally.
Registered disposition
A lease for more than seven years generally requires registration to operate at law.
An agreement failing legal formalities may sometimes create an equitable lease if section 2 LP(MP)A 1989 and equitable requirements are satisfied.
58. Multiple occupiers
Candidates should decide whether occupiers have:
One joint tenancy
Separate tenancies
Licences
No proprietary right
In Antoniades v Villiers, artificial sharing clauses were disregarded.
In AG Securities v Vaughan, separate agreements entered at different times supported separate licences rather than one joint tenancy.
59. Privity of contract and estate
Privity of contract
Arises between the original contracting parties.
Privity of estate
Arises between the current landlord and current tenant of the same legal estate.
The distinction is particularly important for leases granted before 1 January 1996.
60. Leasehold covenants before 1996
For leases granted before 1 January 1996:
Original landlord and tenant may remain liable through privity of contract
Assignees may be liable for covenants touching and concerning the land through privity of estate
Liability may continue after assignment
Indemnity covenants may shift economic responsibility
Candidates should analyse:
Date of lease
Identity of original parties
Current ownership
Nature of covenant
Assignment history
61. Leasehold covenants from 1996
For leases granted on or after 1 January 1996, the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 generally provides:
Benefit and burden of tenant covenants pass on assignment
Benefit and burden of landlord covenants pass with the reversion
Assigning tenant is generally released
Assigning landlord may seek release
Tenant may enter an authorised guarantee agreement
Excluded or personal covenants may not pass automatically.
62. Alienation covenants
An alienation covenant regulates:
Assignment
Underletting
Charging
Sharing occupation
Parting with possession
It may be:
Absolute
Qualified
Fully qualified
For certain qualified covenants, statute implies that consent cannot be unreasonably withheld.
The landlord may owe duties to:
Respond within a reasonable time
Give written consent or refusal
Provide reasons
Impose only reasonable conditions
63. Remedies for breach of leasehold covenant
Possible remedies include:
Debt
Damages
Injunction
Specific performance
Forfeiture
Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery
Claim against guarantor
Rent-deposit withdrawal
Self-help under a repair clause
The correct remedy depends on:
Covenant
Type of lease
Nature of breach
Statutory procedure
Whether the right has been waived
Availability of equitable relief
64. Forfeiture
For breaches other than non-payment of rent, a landlord normally must serve a valid section 146 notice:
Identifying the breach
Requiring remedy if capable of remedy
Requiring compensation where appropriate
Allowing reasonable time
Candidates should understand:
Peaceable re-entry
Court proceedings
Waiver
Relief from forfeiture
Restrictions affecting residential premises
Special protection for repair breaches
Accepting rent with knowledge of a completed breach may waive the right to forfeit for that breach.
65. Termination of leases
A lease may end through:
Expiry
Valid notice
Exercise of break clause
Surrender
Merger
Forfeiture
Disclaimer in insolvency
Frustration in very exceptional circumstances
Candidates should distinguish:
Express surrender by deed
Surrender by operation of law
Assignment
Sublease
Contractual break
Statutory termination
Highest-priority Land Law topics
Prioritise:
Legal and equitable estates and interests
Section 2 land-contract formalities
Deed formalities
Registered-land priority
Notices and restrictions
Actual occupation
Overreaching
Land Charges classes
Doctrine of notice
Joint tenancy versus tenancy in common
Severance
TOLATA applications
Easement characteristics
Implied easements
Prescription
Restrictive and positive freehold covenants
Mortgages and undue influence
Mortgagee possession and sale
Lease versus licence
Pre-1996 and post-1995 lease covenants
Alienation
Forfeiture and termination
Best LNL question method
For each scenario, ask:
Is the land registered or unregistered?
Is the claimed right legal, equitable or merely personal?
Were the necessary formalities satisfied?
How should the right have been protected?
Was the disposition for valuable consideration?
Does the right override?
Has it been overreached?
Who owns the legal estate and beneficial interest?
Does the benefit or burden pass to successors?
What remedy is available?
The controlling source is the official SRA FLK2 specification. The attached official sample paper is directly relevant to FLK2 and illustrates how these rules are tested through short factual scenarios requiring one precise legal consequence.