6. Interests Protected by Registration and Overriding Interests

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses which interests require protection by registration and how interests in registered land are protected. It demonstrates how the priority of interests in registered land is determined, providing a basic rule that the priority of any interest in registered land is determined by the date of creation. It discusses searches of the register. It also discusses how to determine what are overriding interests (ie unregistered interests which override registered dispositions) and the meaning of the term ‘actual occupation’.

6. Registered land

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on Land Law provides an accessible overview of one key area on the law curriculum. The Land Registration Act 1925, which governed the system of registered land, was repealed and replaced by the Land Registration Act 2002, which in the main came into force on 13 October 2003. This chapter focuses on the terms of the 2002 Act and the rules made under it (Land Registration Rules 2003). The discussions cover what can be registered; registering title for the first time; dealings with a registered estate; buying a house with registered title; interests protected by entries on the register; interests that override a registered disposition; interests of persons in actual occupation; discovering encumbrances; alteration of the register and indemnity; transfer and completion by registration; the priority of competing equitable interests; and electronic conveyancing.

6. Interests Protected by Registration and Overriding Interests

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses which interests require protection by registration and how interests in registered land are protected. It demonstrates how the priority of interests in registered land is determined, providing a basic rule that the priority of any interest in registered land is determined by the date of creation. It discusses searches of the register. It also discusses how to determine what are overriding interests (ie unregistered interests which override registered dispositions) and the meaning of the term actual occupation.

7. Registered land

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provide an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. The Land Registration Act 1925, which governed the system of registered land, was repealed and replaced by the Land Registration Act 2002, which in the main came into force on 13 October 2003. This chapter focuses on the terms of the new Act and the rules made under it (Land Registration Rules 2003). The discussions cover what can be registered; registering title for the first time; dealings with a registered estate; buying a house with registered title; interests protected by entries on the register; interests that override a registered disposition; interests of persons in actual occupation; discovering encumbrances; alteration of the register and indemnity; transfer and completion by registration; the priority of competing equitable interests; and electronic conveyancing.

FRAUD, TRUSTS AND EQUITIES

Mr. and Mrs. Collings were the unremarkable registered proprietors of their house, until they had the misfortune to deal with Mr. Lee. Lee purported to act for them in finding a purchaser for the house, and he found a Mr. Styles. Mr. and Mrs. Collings then executed a transfer of the house to Styles in consideration of £250,000, but “Styles” was simply an alias used by Lee, and no part of the £250,000 was ever paid to them. The net result, therefore, was that Lee fraudulently procured the transfer of the house from Mr. and Mrs. Collings to himself, for no consideration. Once registered as proprietor of the house, Lee mortgaged it to the Leeds Permanent Building Society and took the mortgage proceeds. Mr. and Mrs. Collings remained in actual occupation of the house throughout. When Lee’s fraud came to light, Mrs. Collings sought rectification of the register, to reinstate her as proprietor of the house free of the mortgage. (Her husband had died in the meantime, and she had acquired his rights by survivorship.) The Court of Appeal upheld her claim: Collings v. Lee [2001] 2 All E.R. 332.

THE RIGHTS OF EVERY PERSON IN ACTUAL OCCUPATION: AN ENQUIRY INTO SECTION 70(1)(g) OF THE LAND REGISTRATION ACT 1925

The writer considers the scope and application of the present statutory provision, and discusses possible alternative approaches. She begins by examining the meaning of the word “rights”, and examines the difficulties and inconsistencies in the way the word has been interpreted by the courts. She then considers possible statutory amendment, from abolition, or restriction, to, more controversially, an extension to encompass all rights related to the land, whether personal or proprietary, other than those requiring personal skill or confidence. She suggests that such a widening of the scope of the provision would be conducive to certainty, fairness and comprehensiveness. The second part of the article examines the concept of occupation, and traces the judicial approaches to this requirement. Possible statutory amendment is then considered. The article concludes that the scope of the section should be widened, but that the qualifying occupation should be apparent as well as actual.

Metastability of Light-Induced Defects in Very Low Density of Gap States α- Si1-αCα:H Alloys

ABSTRACTWe have prepared silicon carbon alloys with Tauc's gap of 2.1 eV, low defect density (≃ 3–1015cm-3) and large photoconductivity (αPhoto/αdark=105 in AM 1.5 illumination). On these samples light soaking induces a large number of metastable gap defects which are annealed out at 250 °C. We have studied the kinetics of defect formation varying the duration of light exposure and the light intensity. The experimental data are consistent with a bond breaking model (conversion of tail weak bonds into dangling bonds), provided that the actual occupation of tail states is taken into account.