18. Reform of the Land Registration Act 2002

Land Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter assesses the impact of the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) and looks at recent Law Commission proposals to reform the LRA 2002. The Act principally affects the acquisition and defences questions. It considers whether the Act has achieved its aim of providing a comprehensive and accurate register, and also examines if such an aim is a worthwhile one. The effect of the Act depends on whether C’s registration can be said to be a ‘mistake’; but that term is not defined in the Act, and so there is room for disagreement amongst judges and commentators as to how the crucial notion of ‘mistake’ should be interpreted. The Act also concentrates on the different question of whether B can assert a pre-existing legal or equitable property right against C. The chapter considers the detail of some of the Law Commission’s recent proposals to update the LRA 2002, and notes how those proposals are based on a more nuanced approach, which balances the need of a registered party against other policy concerns.

Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter assesses the impact of the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). The Act principally affects the acquisition and defences questions. It considers whether the Act has achieved its aim of providing a comprehensive and accurate register, and also examines if such an aim is a worthwhile one. The effect of the Act depends on whether C's registration can be said to be a ‘mistake’; but that term is not defined in the Act, and so there is room for disagreement amongst judges and commentators as to how the crucial notion of ‘mistake’ should be interpreted. The Act also concentrates on the different question of whether B can assert a pre-existing legal or equitable property right against C. The Law Commission heralded the reforms made by the LRA 2002 as a ‘conveyancing revolution’. At the same time, further changes to conveyancing practice are warranted in order to tackle the perennial frustration experienced by potential homebuyers.


Land Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource.This chapter describes the formality requirements that must be complied with for the creation or transfer of legal estates and interests in land. The three stages of creating and transferring legal rights are contract, creation or transfer, and registration. The Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 increased the formality requirements for contracts and made more severe the consequences of non-compliance. Under s 2 of the 1989 Act, a contract may take the form of a single document signed by both parties or an exchange of documents, each of which has been signed by one of the parties. Non-compliance results in a document being void as a contract for sale of land, but a valid contract may be obtained through use of collateral contracts or rectification. The Law Commission had envisaged the use of estoppel in appropriate cases in which formality requirements for a contract for sale were not complied with. The fundamental objective of the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) is directly associated with the introduction of e-conveyancing. The goal of attaining e-conveyancing has not been deserted, but its introduction appears just as far away now as it did when the LRA 2002 passed into law.


2021 ◽  
pp. 754-777
Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter reviews the statutory protection potentially available to B if he or she has a lease. It is shown that, in some cases, B can be seen as having a lease (at least, in the sense used by a particular statute) even if B has no property right. A lease can give B status: the status of a party qualifying for statutory protection. As the Law Commission has noted, however, it is questionable whether the availability of such protection should continue to turn on whether B has a lease, rather than a licence, and a new approach has recently been taken in Wales.


Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter reviews the statutory protection potentially available to B if he or she has a lease. It is shown that, in some cases, B can be seen as having a lease (at least, in the sense used by a particular statute) even if B has no property right. A lease can give B status: the status of a party qualifying for statutory protection. As the Law Commission has noted, however, it is questionable whether the availability of such protection should continue to turn on whether B has a lease rather than a licence.


Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter describes the formality requirements that must be complied with for the creation or transfer of legal estates and interests in land. The three stages of creating and transferring legal rights are contract, creation or transfer, and registration. The Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 had increased the formality requirements for contracts and made more severe the consequences of non-compliance. Under s 2 of the 1989 Act, a contract may take the form of a single document signed by both parties or an exchange of documents, each of which has been signed by one of the parties. Non-compliance results in a document being void as a contract for sale of land, but a valid contract may be obtained through use of collateral contracts or rectification. The Law Commission had envisaged the use of estoppel in appropriate cases in which formality requirements for a contract for sale were not complied with. The fundamental objective of the Land Registration Act 2002 is directly associated to the introduction of e-conveyancing. The goal of attaining e-conveyancing has not been deserted, but its introduction appears almost as far away now as it did when the LRA 2002 passed into law.


2021 ◽  
pp. 663-694
Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter looks at recent Law Commission proposals to reform the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). It focuses on reforms that relate to situations where there are gaps in the protection of a registered party: rectification and overriding interests. It considers the current law on rectification in three-party cases and the reforms proposed by the Law Commission. It considers not only the Law Commission’s proposals on overriding interests, but also other ideas for reform, such as the extension of indemnity payments. The chapter contrasts the rhetoric in the Law Commission’s recent work with that which preceded the LRA 2002 and notes how the new proposals are based on a more nuanced approach, which balances the need of a registered party against other policy concerns.


Land Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter reviews the statutory protection potentially available to B if he or she has a lease. It is shown that, in some cases, B can be seen as having a lease (at least, in the sense used by a particular statute) even if B has no property right. A lease can give B status: the status of a party qualifying for statutory protection. As the Law Commission has noted, however, it is questionable whether the availability of such protection should continue to turn on whether B has a lease rather than a licence, and a new approach has been taken in recent reforms introduced in Wales.


1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 649
Author(s):  
J Morris

This article considers the impact of gender upon women's experiences of the New Zealand justice system, as lawyers and clients. As well as summarising study and survey material, it draws upon information provided to the Law Commission in the course of its project on Women's Acces to Justice: He Putanga mo nga Wahine ki te Tika. It concludes that women are still significantly disadvantaged by the justice system as a result of their gender and that there is an ongoing need for debate and consideration of these issues if women's access to justice is to be improved.


2021 ◽  
pp. 697-753
Author(s):  
Ben McFarlane ◽  
Nicholas Hopkins ◽  
Sarah Nield

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter focuses on a key feature of a lease: its ability to count as a property right. It explores the three principal questions that apply to any property right: the content question, the acquisition question, and the defences question. It evaluates how the judges’ approach to defining the content of a lease as a property right may have been affected by the presence of statutory protection. The courts’ approach to the content of a lease may be shaped by the fact that, if B has such a right, he or she may qualify (or have qualified) for significant statutory protection. It also considers the impact of the requirement that a lease must have a certain term. The chapter also considers the debate as to the contractual or proprietary nature of the lease.


Author(s):  
Robert Abbey ◽  
Mark Richards

A Practical Approach to Conveyancing takes a pragmatic, rather than academic, approach to conveyancing. It provides practical solutions to everyday problems encountered by conveyancing practitioners wishing to offer a cost-effective and efficient service. This volume offers a detailed and up-to-date exposition of the key principles and procedures underpinning the conveyancing process. The volume provides practical guidance on each stage of commercial and residential conveyances, with realistic sample documentation to aid in an approach of all aspects of a conveyancing transaction with confidence. This 21st edition has been fully updated with recent developments in the area, including the implications of recent identity fraud cases, changes to conveyancing searches and stamp duty, the new SRA transparency rules, and proposed changes to the Land Registration Act 2002 published by the Law Commission.


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