Chapter 1 Flowcharts with audio: How multiple interests affect land

Introduction to Land Law

How is Land Law connected to other subject areas?

Land Law: Blueprint/map

Consider the potential issues that might be play in relation to each part of the above blueprint/map; noting how questions of land law rub up against issues of contract, public, human rights and potentially even criminal law. This seeks to demonstrate both the special place and importance of land as a site of much human activity but also how land law touches on so many aspects of everyday life and our interaction with the world around us.

  • The Cottage: who lives here? Do they own the freehold or are they tenants? Alternatively, are they occupying under a licence as licensees? Is there a mortgage secured on the land?
  • The Shop: Is this shop part of the Cottage? Is there a commercial tenancy (lease)? Is a shop allowed to be run from this land or is there a restrictive covenant (not to run a business)?
  • The Flat: who lives here? A relative of the occupiers of the Cottage? What if there were no legal agreement at all (i.e. no intention to create legal relations)? Is this land occupied under a lease or a licence? Might there be property guardians? Might it be owned and leased out by the local authority?
  • The Garages: might the occupiers of the cottage have agreed to allow their neighbours to use one of the garages under an easement (car parking easement)?
  • The Garden & Path: if the neighbours access their house across the garden path, do they have a right of way (easement of access)? If not, can the occupiers of the cottage stop this trespass? What is the status of the treasure found in the garden? To whom does it belong? Those who found it, whoever owns the garden or the Crown?
  • The Abandoned Field: Who owns this land? What if a local group of pagans set up camp in the field claiming this is their ancestral homeland; cutting down trees to build huts in which to live. Has a criminal offence been committed? Could the group argue ownership rights to the land by adverse possession? Might there be human rights arguments?
  • The Neighbour’s House: who lives here? Are they owners, tenants or licensees? What rights do they enjoy over the garden, the path and the abandoned land?
  • The Public Highway: what action might be available to any of the occupiers of the relevant plots if there was a protest; blocking access to the land?

Take a look at the diagram or map that I've produced. It's a number of different parcels of land. And what I've done here is, I want you to understand how Land law rubs up against other areas of land, but also how pieces of land can harbor multiple interests all at the same time. Take the cottage: who lives in that cottage? Are they owners, or maybe they are tenants under a lease and the shop is that subject to a commercial lease?

What about the flat? Who lives there? A relative of the occupiers of the cottage? Perhaps there is no intention to create legal relations. Maybe they’re property guardians or it's owned outright by the local authority. And the garages: what if the occupiers of the cottage have agreed to allow their neighbors to use one of those garages under an easement?

And the garden and the path on the left-hand side: if the neighbors cross that garden to access their house, do they have a valid right of way and easement access? If not, can the occupiers of the cottage stop this trespass? And the treasure found in the garden: who owns that? To whom does it belong? The person who found it, to the owner of the garden, or to the crown?

What about the abandoned field in the top right-hand side? Who owns this land? What if a group of local pagans set up camp in the field claiming this to be their ancestral homeland and they cut down trees and build huts? Has a criminal offence been committed? Could there be criminal damage? Might the group of pagans argue that they are entitled to ownership rights over the land by adverse possession? Could they make human rights arguments?

And the neighbor's house: who lives there, and what's their relationship to the land around them? And finally, the public highway: imagine that any of the actors or any of those occupying this land can’t access their property because of, I don't know, a protest on the public highway blocking access to the land. Might there be public law or perhaps nuisance issues?

And don't forget, in all of these properties, family law may also be arising in disputes between the parties.

As you can see, land is the source of so much activity and a multitude of interests. And that's what makes Land law so special and interesting.

Back to top