Property Register Entries and Ownership Details: Easement Rights, Land Transfers, and Mortgage Restrictions

2. The entry 2 on the property register relates to a conveyance made in 1973 between the vendors (Patrick and Jennifer Daly) and the purchasers (Brian and Ann Lillis), whereby the vendors are entitled to easement rights. These are the easement rights made in favour of the Boat House.

3. The entry 3 beginning with the words, “the land edged and numbered in green” refers to the transfer of the edged and numbered land to another party. This means that the said part of the property has been sold to another person.

4. The owners of the Boat House as per the proprietorship register are Hugh Lindsay Stansfield and Kathryn Alison Stansfield.

5. The entry 2 on the proprietorship register relates to a charge made in favour of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which implies that the property is mortgaged to the bank for a secured loan. The entry specifies that there can be no disposition registered for the land without the consent of the Royal Bank of Scotland. This is a restriction which is made when there is a charge on the property.

7. The registered proprietors must repay the mortgage amount in full before making the transfer. In case such amount is not fully paid, then the consent of the proprietor of the charge, that is, the Royal Bank of Scotland is required.

8. Lucy and Francine will become the legal owners of the Boat House when the transfer is registered with the HM Registry, whereupon the Proprietorship register will reflect their names as the holders of the Title Absolute.

9. A dutch barn is a temporary structure made on the property, not intended to be a part of the land (Holland v Hodgson, (1872) LR 7 CP 328). As such, it does not form part of the property because it may be a chattel, therefore, not a part of the land and not a fixture, which is a part of the land, therefore not removable from the land.

10.The canal boat does not form part of the land, although it is connected to mains electricity. It is not intended to be a permanent fixture in the land (Elitestone Ltd v Morris [1997] 1 WLR 687, HL). Moreover, Peter has been paying a rent for mooring it on the Boat House, therefore it is a tenant’s fixture, and it can be removed from the property once the house is sold (Spyer v Phillipson, [1987] 1 EGLR 116).

11. The gold brooch belongs to the registered proprietor of the land. This is as per the case law. In Waverly Borough Council v Fletcher, [1995] 4 All ER 756, gold brooch embedded in the land was said to belong to the local authority who owned the land. Similar reasoning applied in South Staffordshire Water co. v Sharman, [1896] 2 QB 44.

12. Stan does not have a lease of the outbuilding. In a registered land, a lease to be an overriding interest as per the Land Registration Act 2002, Schedule 3 protects short term legal lease of a person in actual possession. A legal lease is a registrable disposition as per the Act. It is important to note here that s.27 provides what is a registrable disposition and it includes leasehold for more than seven years. Even where the lease is for less than seven years, under s.29(4), it is treated as registrable disposition.

13. Pat has a licence for using the outbuilding for storage of farm equipment. There is no written agreement between the parties, therefore this is a bare licence given to Pat. This is a minor interest in the land and does not bind the purchaser of the property. A contractual or bare licence does not create a right in rem but is only a right in personam (Ashburn Anstalt v WJ Arnold & Co, [1988] EWCA Civ 14).

14. Under the Land Registration Act 2002, lease of more than 7 years is a registrable disposition (s.27). Therefore, if the registered proprietors wish to give the wing on a lease of more than 10 years, then the proprietor and Joe must have a written lease agreement and this must be registered with the Land Registry. As this is the first registration of the lease, the application will be made in Form FR1 (rule 23(1) of the Land Registration Rules 2003).

15. If one registered proprietor dies then the estate devolves upon the executors on death or the administrators on the grant of letters of administration without the need to register them as proprietors.

16. When there is no express declaration of the equitable interests held in the estate by joint tenants, the presumption usually is that they hold the interest as joint tenants (Stack v Dowden, [2007] 2 AC 432). Therefore, the equitable interest of the registered proprietors may be assumed to be that of joint tenants. The exception to this is if it can be shown that the registered proprietors intended to hold the interest in separate shares (Jones v Kernott, [2011] UKSC 53).

17. The effect of the notice would be a severance of the joint tenancy and now Lucy and Francine will be tenants in common. Joint tenancy may be severed by any joint tenant, operating on his own share. LPA 1925, s.36(2) allows the joint tenant to alienate his share by a unilateral act (Harris v Goddard, [1983] 3 All ER 242). It provides that the joint tenant must do so by a final and irrevocably.

18. As the Boat House is a registered estate, any ownership in the estate must be reflected in the Land Register. In case of a property right of a person actually in possession of the property, this becomes an overriding interest in the property as per the and Registration Act 2002, Schedule 3. Such persons are protected even if their interest is not registered (Williams & Glyn’s Bank v Boland [1981] AC 487).

19. The share that will be given to the creditors is Francine’s share, that is 25 percent because when one joint tenant becomes bankrupt, only the beneficial interest of the debtor, is part of the bankrupt’s estate and only that vests in the trustee in bankruptcy (the Insolvency Act 1986, section 306).

20. Lucy and Francine are bound by the lease. Under Schedule 3, short term leases are overriding interests that are protected. All legal leases, that are made for a duration of 7 years are overriding leases. Such short term leases are overriding irrespective of whether the tenant is occupying or not, and even when the tenant does not disclose his interest to the enquirers.

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