Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminars / Tutorials | 8 Hours. Four one hour seminars each semester |
| Lecture | 40 Hours. Three one hour lectures per week over both semesters |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Assessed essay of 2000 words required in Week 6 of Semester 2 | 33% |
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours | 67% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 2hr Hours Resit: By retaking the failed element (ie written assignment or examination or both, as applicable) |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module students should
have gained a comprehensive body of knowledge concerning the legal relationships that relate to land and land transactions;
be able to articulate the relationships between the conceptual frameworks that underpin land law and the resulting statute and case law;
be able to demonstrate their ability to critically analyse the substance, structures and application of land law;
be able to situate their knowledge of the legal and equitable rules and principles of land law within a wider social theoretical and jurisprudential context;
be able to situate land law applicable to England and Wales within its appropriate historical, social, economic and political context and, where relevant, appreciate comparative and international perspectives on land law and property relationships;
be able to assess some of the current challenges that face land law, based on their knowledge of existing research and literature;
have undertaken an appropriate degree of sustained and systematic research that identifies concerns arising from a number of topics, or line of enquiries in relation to land law;
have developed the skills necessary to carry out independent research, using a variety of sources (e.g. case-law, statutes, newspapers, journals and electronic information sources);
developed coherence and clarity in written and oral presentations that allows them to articulate and more effectively communicate to others, both the extent of the knowledge they have acquired, and their critically evaluative understanding of that knowledge.
Brief description
The module focuses on the legal issues associated with land as both a commodity and a social resource. It is, as the titles of some textbooks suggest, a subject concerned with property and property relations. While land is vital to human existence, property relations form a fundamental role in shaping and defining our societies. Different concepts of property have developed in specific spatial and temporal contexts. These relationships between individuals, objects and the state are both dynamic and fluid. One of the aims of this module therefore, is to examine these changing relationships, simultaneously locating ideas about property and land law in their broader social, historical, economic and political contexts.
The Land Law module counts for 30 credits and will be taught by lectures and seminar classes. The module will be taught by 48 lectures and ten seminars spread across two semesters. Because there are in total nearly 70 available lecture slots during this period, some weeks there will only be two lectures while in others there will be three. You are therefore advised to keep an eye on the notice board each week for information regarding the course.
Aims
This module aims to introduce students to a wide range of legal and equitable rules and principles that exist within land law and property relations, one of the core subjects of legal education. At the same time the module sets out to develop a critical perspective on this knowledge through the continued consideration of the complex social, economic and political context in which these rules and principles exist. Although lectures and the associated readings are organised and structured so as to provide a critical commentary on a number of issues relating to land law, students are encouraged to actively participate in their own learning development. In pursuit of this goal, seminars and written assessments are organised in such a way as to develop critical and analytical skills, independent research techniques, oral, written and electronic communication skills.
Content
Lectures: Semester 1 - Weeks 1-6
Historical Introduction
The nature of land
Legal and equitable Interests
Doctrine of tenure
Doctrine of estates
Introduction to 1925 Property Legislation
Policy objectives
Legal estates and interests after 1925
Equitable estates and interests after 1925
The Land Charges system
The Land Registration system including Land Registration Act 2002
The protection of interests in unregistered land
The protection of interests in registered land
Remedies
Reading Week, Week 7
Section B: Land Transactions
Lectures: Semester 1 - Weeks 8-9
Seminars: Semester 1 - Weeks 10
Conveyancing
Formal creation of rights in land
Problems associated with pre-contract agreements
Contracts and Completion
Section C
Adverse Possession
Lectures: Semester 1 - Weeks 10-11
Seminars: Semester 1 - Week 12
Section D: Financing Land Transactions - Mortgages
Lectures: Semester 2 - Weeks 1-2
Seminars: Semester 2 - Weeks
Financing Owner Occupation
The rise of owner occupation; building societies and banks
The creation of mortgages, formalities terms and conditions
The legal consequences of Mortgages for both the mortgagor and mortgagee
The housing market, the late 80's, negative equity and repossession
Section E: Leases, Licences and Proprietary Estoppel
Lectures: Semester 2 - Weeks 3-4
Non-owner occupation and the rented sector
The creation of leases
Terms and conditions
Protection of tenancies
Leasehold Reform
Licences and Leases distinguished
Proprietary Estoppel
Section F: Homesharers and Trusts
Lectures: Semester 2 - Weeks 5-7
Seminars: Semester 2 - Week 7
Informal creation of Rights in Land
History of the Trust
People and Property
Trusts of Land
Resulting and Constructive trusts
Statutory Rights of Occupation
Section G: Easements
Lectures: Semester 2 - Week 8-9
Seminars: Semester 2 - Week 9
The requirements for a valid easement
The creation of easements
The role of easements in facilitating land use
Legal & Equitable leases distinguished
Section H: Covenants
Lectures: Semester 2 - Week 10
Seminars: Semester 2 - Week 11
Private and public law techniques for controlling land use
Restrictive Covenants
Passing of Benefit and Burden of Freehold Covenants
Building Schemes
Books and Readings
There is no single recommended textbook for this module. The following, however, is a representative list of reasonable texts. None of them deal satisfactorily with all the topics that we shall cover and whichever text you decide to buy, you should, in addition, consult some of the other books on the list, together with any additional further reading that you may have been given. Within the lectures, in your reading for seminars and within the textbooks, you will be referred to a number of cases, statutes and journal articles. There is no substitute for reading these; in addition, the increased electronic provision of cases and journals within the university means that there is now no excuse for not reading these.
Many decisions turn on the specific wording of statutes or previous cases. The synopsis provided by many text books will, in many cases, still leave you in the dark as to why a particular decision was decided one way or another. Reading cases and statutes is therefore an important aspect of developing your critical and analytical skills. Learning law is not just about being able to regurgitate the outcome of particular decisions, but it is about developing opinions; learning to analyse and criticise decisions where they have departed not only from your conception of legal orthodoxy, but also from social mores and values which you hold. In relation to this, reading non-legal materials, books, newspapers, magazines and journals from other disciplines are important.
Reading List
Recommended TextA J Oakley (2001) Megarry's Manual of the Law of the Real Property 8th Sweet & Maxwell Primo search K Gray & S Gray (2000) Elements of Land Law 3rd Butterworths Primo search M Dixon Principles of Land Law 4th Cavendish Primo search M P Thompson Modern Land Law 2nd OUP Primo search R J Smith (2003) Property Law 4th Longman Primo search R J Smith (2003) Property Law Cases & Materials 2nd Longman Primo search Property Statutes Sweet & Maxwell Statutes on Property Law Blackstones Primo search Supplementary Text
Abbey, Robert M. Blackstone's Guide to the Land Registration Act 2002 Subject-specific Text Book Oxf.U.P. Primo search Cheshire, G.C. Modern Law of Real Property Standard Text Books edition 16r.e. part pages Butterworth Primo search Dixon, Martin Principles of Land Law Casebooks edition 4r.e. Cavendish Publishing Primo search Goo, S.H. Sourcebook on Land Law Casebooks edition 3r.e. Cavendish Publishing Primo search Gray, Kevin J. Elements of Land Law Standard Text Books edition 3r.e. Butterworth Primo search Kenny, Phillip H Butterworth's student statutes : property law Statute Books Butterworth Primo search MacKenzie, Judith-Anne Textbook on Land Law Standard Text Books edition 9r.e. Oxf.U.P. Primo search Maudsley, R.H. Maudsley and Burn's Land Law Casebooks edition 7r.e. Butterworth Primo search Oakley, A.J. Megarry's Manual of the Law of Real Property Standard Text Books edition 8r.e. Sweet & M. Primo search Smith, R.J. Property Law Standard Text Books edition 4r.e. Longman Primo search Smith, Roger J. (2001) Property Law Standard Text Books edition 2r.e. Longman Primo search Sparkes, Peter New Land Law Standard Text Books Hart Publishing Primo search Thomas, Meryl Blackstone's Statutes on Property Law Statute Books edition r.e. Blackstone P. Primo search Thompson, Mark P. Modern Land Law Standard Text Books edition 2r.e. Oxf.U.P. Primo search Property Statutes Statute Books edition 7r.e. Sweet & M. Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6