1 Introduction

Contents
Introduction 6
11 Studyinglandlaw 7
12 Asuggestedapproachtostudy 10
13 Theexamination 15
14 Anintroductoryactivity 18
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Introduction
This subject guide is designed to help you study the land law of England and Wales. Each
chapter will highlight the most important aspects of the topic and give guidance as to
essential and further reading. Within each chapter you will fnd exercises (activities)
designed to test your understanding of the topic and self-assessment exercises to monitor
understanding and progress. There are also sample examination questions with advice on
possible approaches to the questions.
The key to successful study of land law is a solid knowledge and understanding of the rel-
evant statutory and common law rules, coupled with an appreciation of how those rules ft
together. Although you must study each topic separately, it is only at the end of the course
that full understanding of land law is really possible, so at the end of this guide it might be
helpful to stand back from the subject and think about how the topics interrelate. Note
that many examination questions will require the application of principles from more than
one chapter of this guide, particularly the problem questions. For example, Registration
of title (Chapter 3) can affect the answer to almost any question; and there are overlaps
between the chapters on leases and licences, and on licences and co-ownership. Again,
when you have fnished this guide, it would be useful to go back to the questions in the
earlier chapters and see whether you can now give a more detailed or different answer, in
the light of subsequent chapters.
Learning outcomes for this chapter
By the end of this chapter and the activity on page 18 you should be able to:
approach the study of land law in a systematic way
understand some of the key defnitions and concepts used in land law
understand what the various elements of the text are designed to do
begin your study of land law with confdence.

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1.1 Studyinglandlaw
1.1.1 Acoherentbutcomplexsubject
When studying land law you will beneft, as in any other legal subject, from a disciplined
approach and logical analysis, and as usual you also need to develop the skill of thinking
and arguing conceptually. However, land law is full of categories and sub-categories: a suc-
cessful answer to any problem question will depend upon accurate, comprehensive and
logical analysis of how the facts of the question ft into those categories. Thus, for example,
there are two categories of land known as registered title and unregistered title, and the
body of rules applying to each is fundamentally different; when answering a problem
question you must determine which category is relevant, then apply the corresponding
body of rules. Failure to do so can sometimes lead to a totally wrong answer. Again, we will
often look at legal rights and equitable rights separately, since law and equity have very
different approaches to the enforceability of rights in relation to land. Accurate labelling of
rights and situations, with a calm approach, will make the application of the correct line of
authorities reasonably straightforward.
Some students regard land law as a diffcult subject; others like the fact that so much of
it is statutory. It is complex in places and remarkably straightforward in others; some-
times in need of radical reform and sometimes very modern. As a subject, hindsight adds
coherence, since the answer to many questions requires an understanding of a number of
inter-related issues or topics of study. This feld of law uses ancient and technical language
and frequently refers back to history often at great speed and with little depth. But a
calm, structured approach both to study of the key principles and to answering questions
will help you a great deal. Land law can be an accessible and enjoyable subject (everyone
needs and uses land), and the historical element adds both important context and colour
to the principles.
Land law is about the relationships which people and the state have with land. Nobody can
live without land, and most people have to share it, creating competing rights. England and
Wales have a limited supply of land and (at least in towns and cities) a dense population, so
disputes about rights over land are likely. Peoples relationships to land depend on many
factors and have a strong cultural element. Land law thus tells a student much about the
society to which it applies. Land can be a fnancial asset, a home, something spiritual and
incapable of individual ownership, or belong to the state or to a ruler, for example. In a
market-based society, land must be freely tradable, but there must also be security for
those who own it and those who have lesser rights in it, such as a right to walk across it.
Many land law problems will involve not just two but three sets of competing interests:
those of a buyer of the land, a seller of the land, and a third party who has some lesser inter-
est in the land (e.g. a right to live there for life, or a loan secured against it).
ImpactoftheHumanRightsAct
Since the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force in October 2000, all felds of law have
had to be reconsidered in the light of the rights protected by the European Convention on
Human Rights and fundamental freedoms (ECHR). Land law has not been immune to this
impact: some of the cases which you will be reading will refer to human rights principles;
public authorities must uphold the Convention rights; new statutes must comply with
them; and courts must both interpret legislation so far as is possible in accordance with
the Convention rights (s.3 Human Rights Act 1998) and apply those rights where relevant
in the common law. Practical considerations and long-established principles of law may
raise human rights issues. For example, we shall see in Chapter 11 Adverse Possession, that
there has been much debate about the extent to which a squatters claim to the disputed
land will violate the rights of the landowner; the Grand Chamber of the European Court of
Human Rights recently overruled a frst instance decision which had found such a violation.
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Fourkeyquestionstoask
There are four key questions to ask in response to any land law problem, and you must
always be prepared to answer them and to explain why the answers matter:
Is the title to the land registered or unregistered?
What interests may exist in the relevant land?
Is each of the possible interests legal or equitable?
Have any necessary steps been taken to protect each of the possible interests?
Since there has been so much statutory intervention in land law at difference times, the
dates on which events occur in a problem question are often crucial, and a before and
after answer is often necessary. Questions will usually target your knowledge of key
legislative changes in this way. But case law is also important, whether in interpretation of
statutory rules or in creating legal rules in its own right.
Alittlehistory
The historical evolution of English land law is a complex but interesting story, and in the
twentieth century it is characterised by the increasing intervention of the state in the
regulation of the use and occupation of land (e.g. housing law, planning law and regimes
for the protection of tenants). However, in the syllabus we concentrate rather on the
private law aspects of the subject (i.e. on what land is, what interests can exist in land, how
such interests may be created, transferred and extinguished, and the extent to which such
interests are enforceable against third parties). An understanding of the basic principles
of land law is obviously important for lawyers, but it is also relevant for lay people making
arrangements for the ownership, occupation and use of land in their everyday lives.
Although you are advised to make your way through the guide topic by topic, you should
bear in mind that land law has a coherence that is lacking in some legal subjects and that
there are themes that run through the subject and give it a certain unity; this is evident in
the cross-referencing to be found in the guide and the textbooks. For example, the distinc-
tions between proprietary and personal rights, between legal and equitable interests and
between registered and unregistered conveyancing are fundamental to an understanding
of modern land law, and the principles of the 1925 legislation (as amended and supple-
mented), outlined in Chapter 2, provide a framework within which you should read the
chapters that follow.
1.1.2 Outlinestructureofthissubjectguide
In land law, the order of study of topics is to some extent a matter of personal choice. This
subject guide has been structured to enable you to begin with the basic foundations, then
proceed to detailed understanding of each of the key topics. However you must remember
that many of these topics are inter-related, and the rules of some topics overlap with oth-
ers. The guide contains the following chapters:
Chapter 2 The 1925 reforms and unregistered land law
The rules of competing rights in land applying to land which has not had its title registered
in the Title Register, and the reforms introduced by the Land Registration Act 1925. Persons
other than the owner of land may claim to have rights in the land, for example to live on it
or to use it.
Chapter 3 Registration of title
The rules of competing rights in land where title has been registered in the Land Register,
and the impact of the reforms introduced by the Land Registration Act 2002. Registration
of title is compulsory, and registration of a right in land has very important effects upon its
enforceability against third parties.
Chapter 4 Settlements
The rules for creation of a chain of interests in land, for example I give my house to A for life
then to B absolutely. The mechanisms by which such settlements could be created histori-
cally, and the modern rule for trusts of land.

Go to your study pack and

read What is land law? by
E. Cooke
Go to your study pack and
read What is land law? by
E. Cooke
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Chapter 5 Co-ownership
Co-ownership is when two or more people are entitled to simultaneous enjoyment of land.
It can be created formally or informally, and we shall look at both statutory and case-law
rules for co-ownership and its termination.
Chapter 6 Landlord and tenant: the law of leases
The distinctions between leases and licences. Key aspects of the law of landlord and tenant,
including the ingredients of a lease, its defning features, its termination and the enforce-
ment of certain promises made in leases.
Chapter 7 Licences and proprietary estoppel
Licences are rights to do something on someone elses land, whether to walk across it or
live on it. It is important for a residential occupier of land to know whether he has a lease or
a licence in respect of the land, since his position is stronger if he has a lease.
Chapter 8 Easements and profts prendre
An easement is also a right to do something on someone elses land, but it is a right in land,
whereas a licence is a purely personal right. Thus it can continue indefnitely, binding suc-
cessive owners of the affected land.
Chapter 9 Freehold covenants
Neighbours often try to restrict each others behaviour in order, for example, to prevent
the running of a business in a residential area. A restrictive covenant is a promise made by
the owner of land that he will not do a particular thing, such as run a business; it may be
enforceable against subsequent buyers of that land.
Chapter 10 Mortgages
Most people fnance their purchase of land via a mortgage, which is a loan secured on the
land. The law has to balance the rights and duties of the mortgagor (borrower of money)
against those of the mortgagee (the lender of the purchase money).
Chapter 11 Adverse possession
This is the controversial topic of squatters rights, which has been radically reformed by the
Land Registration Act 2002.
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1.2 Asuggestedapproachtostudy
For further information on this topic, see also the Student Handbook and the subject guide
on Learning skills for law.
You should start with this subject guide. Start at the beginning and work through the chap-
ters sequentially, reading the textbook and casebook and doing the activities as directed.
Studypack
A study pack accompanies your subject guide. It contains a series of important readings,
which will help you understand the background to key topics. A note in the margin of the
subject guide will tell you when it is important to do these readings.
1.2.1 Essentialreading
Primarytextbook
Gray, K. J. and S. F. Gray Elements of Land Law. (London: Butterworths, 2004) fourth edi-
tion [ISBN 9780406975775].
Casebook
Burn, E.H. Maudsley and Burns Land Law: Cases and Materials. (London: Butterworths Law,
2004) [ISBN 9780406971371 ].
Alternativeandintroductorytexts
Dixon, M. Modern Land Law. (London: Routledge-Cavendish, 2005) Fifth edition [ISBN
978-1859418457]. NB the Sixth edition of this book should be available in Autumn 2008;
students should use the most recent edition available.
Gravells, N. P. Land Law: text and materials. (London: Sweet and Maxwell, 2004) Third
edition [ISBN 9780421792609].
Mackenzie, J-A. and M. Phillips Textbook on Land Law. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2006) Eleventh edition [ISBN 9780199289400].
A very good introduction, and useful for short explanations of diffcult topics.
Smith, R. Property Law (Harlow: Longmans, 2006) Fifth edition [ISBN 9781405801140].
NB Sixth edition is due in Autumn 2008; students should use the most recent edition
available.
Sparkes, P. A New Land Law. (Oxford: Hart, 2003) Second edition [ISBN 9781841133805].
Statutebook
You should also obtain a statute book. Under the regulations you are allowed to take ONE
authorised statute book into the examination room.
Information about the statute books and other materials that you are permitted to use in
the examination is printed in the current Regulations, which you should refer to.
Please note that you are allowed to underline or highlight text in these documents
but you are not allowed to write notes etc. on them. See also the Guide to Examination
Technique for further guidance on these matters.
The Regulations for the LLB state:
5.3 Students may underline and/or highlight passages with a coloured pen in the materi-
als, but all other forms of personal annotation on statues and other materials permitted to
be taken into the examination room are strictly forbidden.
Statute books are regularly updated: try to obtain the latest edition.
Legaljournals
In additional to the essential texts, you should consult a range of legal journals to keep
yourself up to date with academic writing on the subject:
Law Quarterly Review
Modern Law Review
New Law Journal
Estates Gazette
Conveyancer and Property Lawyer.

From now on, we will refer to

these texts in an abbreviated
form using author names,
chapter numbers and
chapter titles, for example:
Gray and Gray, Chapter 2:
Property and
Maudsley and Burn, Chapter 1:
Introductory topics.
From now on, we will refer to
these texts in an abbreviated
form using author names,
chapter numbers and
chapter titles, for example:
Gray and Gray, Chapter 2:
Property and
Maudsley and Burn, Chapter 1:
Introductory topics.
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Many other legal periodicals will contain relevant articles and it is good academic practice
to consult the latest editions in libraries, if you are able to do so.
1.2.2 Structureoftheguide
Each Chapter follows the same basic structure:
1 Title
2 List of Contents main section headings
3 Introduction telling you what the chapter deals with
4 List of learning outcomes the things you should be able to do when you have fnished
working through the chapter successfully
5 The main text divided into short sections
6 Sample examination questions these are the kind of questions you may have to answer in
your exam. You are also given advice on how to answer them.
1.2.3 Workingthroughachapterofthesubjectguide
This guide takes you through the entire subject of land law in a logical and systematic
way, with each chapter covering a particular topic or group of topics. It is centred on the
textbooks Elements of Land Law by Gray and Gray and Modern Land Law by Dixon. Much of
your study time should be taken up reading the textbook, though you will also have to read
(and think about) numerous case reports.
Introduction
Begin each chapter of the subject guide by noting the contents and then reading the
Introduction.
Learningoutcomes
Note the list of learning outcomes and keep these in mind as you work through the rest of
the chapter.
You will be reminded of these learning outcomes in the refect and review section, which
appears at the end of each chapter except Chapter 1. Check yourself against the outcomes
listed there. For example, by the end of Chapter 2 you should be able to decide whether
third party rights are enforceable against a purchaser of unregistered land. Ask yourself:
Can I explain what sort of third party rights might be involved here? Can I explain the rules
for enforceability, both in law and in equity as appropriate?
If you can do so, then it is safe to proceed. If you cannot do so, you should go back over the
work you have done until you can.
Essentialreading
This tells you what parts of the textbook are required reading for the topic you are
studying.
Note: essential means that you must read this material: this is where you will fnd the
information that you will need to pass your exam. Do not skip the readings.
You should read the readings at the point when they are referred to. As an example,
this is what should happen when you read Chapter 11: Adverse Possession. After reading
the Introduction to the chapter, you will see that the essential reading is Chapters 3:
Possession and 6: Title or Gray and Gray, and section XI of Chapter 3: Limitations of action
in Maudsley and Burn. You should read these chapters before going any further into the
subject guide chapter. You will be told to read parts of it again later.
Now work through the remainder of Chapter 11, re-reading sections of the key chapter of
the textbook when you are asked to do so carefully and in more detail.
Make notes of anything you do not understand, and add any new words and phrases to
your vocabulary index cards, if you are keeping them.
For general advice on
studying law courses and
managing your study time,
see the Student Handbook.
For advice on strengthening
your command of the English
language, see the Studying
English law with the University
of London guide.
For general advice on
studying law courses and
managing your study time,
see the Student Handbook.
For advice on strengthening
your command of the English
language, see the Studying
English law with the University
of London guide.
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Activities
In every chapter you will fnd activities. These are exercises that are designed to help you
learn and understand important issues. They do this by getting you to think about a ques-
tion and devise a response. Activities will not have simple yes or no answers: often you
will need to write down a few sentences, so activities also give you useful practice in using
legal English. Sometimes you will be asked to read a particular case in full and make notes
on it before answering some questions. These cases are generally key decisions which will
be helpful in understanding and applying relevant legal rules.
In most cases, feedback is provided at the end of the Chapter, but it is essential to do the
activities before you look at the feedback. Do each activity to the best of your ability, then
check the feedback. How well did you do? If your answer to the activity was incorrect or
incomplete, think carefully about what went wrong. Do you need to re-read part of the
textbook, or work through the subject guide chapter again?
Self-assessmentquestions
These are factual questions designed to test your memory of the Chapter you have just
worked through. You may fnd it useful to ask a friend, fellow student or family member to
test you on these questions. No feedback is given to SAQs because you can always fnd the
answer somewhere in the text of the subject guide chapter.
Sampleexaminationquestions
Most chapters contain one or two sample examination questions.

These are examples of

the kind of questions that have been asked on the particular topic in previous years. You
should answer the examination questions fully. This will give you practise in presenting
your knowledge and understanding of the topic in a thorough and integrated way. Think
about each question. Ask yourself:
What does this question relate to?
What data do I need to answer it, in terms of relevant statutory provisions, case law and
perhaps academic opinion from articles?
Is this a topic on which there are differing academic views?
What is an appropriate balanced solution to the question?
Next read the advice on answering the questions that follows. This will help you put
together an effective answer. Spend 3540 minutes writing your answer. By writing down
answers you will develop the skill of expressing yourself clearly and logically on paper. It will
also help you to approach the examination at the end of the year. You need as much prac-
tise as possible in writing fuently and lucidly throughout the academic year as preparation.
Also remember to look at the Examiners Reports

for recent years; they contain much

helpful information on common mistakes and misunderstandings made by students in the
examinations, as well as guidance on the key elements of answering each question.
Readingcases
Numerous cases are referred to in the text. These cases are not chosen at random: they
are the important cases that have established or modifed the law. You should read them
in full whenever possible, and make notes. But you should not assume that a case is not
relevant simply because it is not covered in the Guide; you are expected to be familiar with
the contents of all the required readings. Reading cases enriches your understanding of the
law; without this step you will fnd any law subject drier and less comprehensible. There are
no shortcuts in law other than those which we have already made on your behalf by telling
you what to read and providing you with practice materials in the subject guides. Other
so-called shortcuts just leave you short of marks in the examinations!
You should make the effort to read as many cases as possible. They are mostly available on-
line from the Universitys online library service at: http://www.external.shl.lon.ac.uk/index.
asp?id=law.

The sample examination

questions are very important:
they help you practise your exam
skills as well as learning more
deeply about the topic.

The sample examination

questions are very important:
they help you practise your exam
skills as well as learning more
deeply about the topic.

Note that the Examiners Reports

for recent years will give you no
indication of what topics will
appear in your own examination,
and that examiners do not base
the current years paper upon
those of previous years.

Note that the Examiners Reports

for recent years will give you no
indication of what topics will
appear in your own examination,
and that examiners do not base
the current years paper upon
those of previous years.
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For guidance of accessing this service and searching for cases see:
the Learning skills for law subject guide, section 16, pp. 7882, and
the on-line legal research exercises, which are available on: http://www.londonexternal.
ac.uk/current_students/programme_resources/laws/index.shtml.
Remember to make notes when you read cases.
Furtherreading
When you have completed your study of a section or chapter of the Guide and textbook,
check whether any useful further reading is recommended. There will usually be at least
one academic article recommended, or a Law Commission report. Some articles give a use-
ful overview of a whole topic, whereas some deal with a tricky issue or rule in detail.
1.2.4 Tengoldenrulesforstudyinglandlaw
1 Learn each topic as you study it and frequently revise
You will never fully understand any topic in land law unless you gain a good working idea of
how it all fts together; you cannot stop thinking about registered title simply because you
have moved on to another chapter.
2 Read each chapter in your textbook at least twice
What is unclear at frst reading will often become clear on a second or subsequent reading.
This is particularly true in a subject as inter-related as land law.
3 Read as many of the important cases as you can
Textbooks have to summarise cases succinctly, and summarising can be an obstacle
to both accuracy and understanding. You are more likely to understand a decision in a
particular case if you have read the case itself. Judges often give very useful summaries of
related or previous cases in their judgments; some judges tell the story of the case in a
memorable and engaging way which deepens your appreciation of the issues in the topic.
4 Read as much of the recommended further reading as you can
This will be important for essay questions in the examination, and for an appreciation of
likely reforms. It will also help with tricky issues in problem questions. You should keep
up to date with Law Commission Reports and Consultations, which contain excellent and
accurate summaries of the law in addition to proposing potential reforms.
5 Take full notes of what is said in any lectures and tutorials
Also make notes of any relevant material that you read chapters in textbooks, articles and
cases. Keep these notes in a loose-leaf fle so that you can add new material to each section
as the need arises. In this subject, diagrams may be a very helpful way of supplementing
your notes; you will often have to distinguish between two or more people who claim
rights in the same land, or between successive owners of the same land, and it is much
easier to do so with reference to a clear diagram. You will fnd examples of such diagrams
in this subject guide.
6 Read with a book of statutes at hand for reference
You are allowed to bring a Statute Book into the examination hall, but you will not be able
to use it effectively unless you are already familiar with its contents. You simply will not
have time in the examination hall to be reading sections of statutes for the frst time and
pondering whether they affect the issues in a question! Statutes are not easy to read, and
you will need to take trouble with this, reading each section that your book or article refers
to several times to ensure that you have grasped all its details. Land law is highly depend-
ent upon statutes, so you must know your way around your statute book.
7 Condense your own full notes into a skeleton set of notes
Your skeleton notes will be infnitely more valuable than someone elses, and are essential
to ensure that you learn and revise properly. You will need an ordinary, bound notebook,
with separate sections for each topic that you learn. Ask at a law stationers for some coun-
sels notebooks if you can; they are more substantial than ordinary school exercise books
and come in ruled and unruled varieties.

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When you have fnished studying one topic in land law, go through all your full notes and
condense them into headings, subheadings and any further divisions that are convenient.
Do this at frst on rough paper so that you can fnd the best way of setting things out and
summarising your full notes. Then copy your fnal version onto the right-hand page of your
notebook, making sure that you add the names of the cases and statutory references that
are involved in answering questions. On the left-hand page summarise each case referred
to on the right-hand page in not more than three or four lines, and make a note of when
each statutory provision mentioned will apply. When you have done that, put your skel-
eton notes aside, take some more rough paper, and see if you can write out from memory
what you have just written. Check it with the skeleton and, if need be, repeat the exercise
until you have the whole section clearly in your memory.
8 Practise answering the sample examination questions
The difference between an average answer and a
good answer in land law will often be in spotting
the full range of issues for discussion, giving each an
appropriate amount of discussion, and applying all
relevant statutory and case-law authority. Never write
a here is all I know essay-style answer to a problem
question; spend as much of the available time as you
can applying the relevant law, not describing it. The dif-
ference between a good answer and a fail will often be
a basic error such as incorrect labelling of the relevant
issues for discussion: for example, if a question concerns adverse possession of land with
registered title but you apply the rules for unregistered title, then the resulting answer will
score very poorly. But what really makes a difference in effectively answering essay ques-
tions is spotting the full range of issues and showing a critical appreciation of them, with
appropriate weight to each issue; make sure that you answer the question which is actually
being asked, not one which you would prefer or have prepared! If you have been asked to
read an academic article, you need to be able to discuss it in an essay. Many students do
poorly in the examination because they are not familiar with the materials in the subject
guide and Recent Developments; there are no excuses for such negligence! You now also
have a study pack which provides further essential reading, and there is no excuse for not
having read it.
9 Keep up to date
To some extent, every textbook is out of date as soon as it appears in the bookshops
because the law is constantly changing. Read the law reports in The Times and the appropri-
ate law journals (see section 1.2.1 above). We put new cases and statutes into the Recent
Developments publication each year because we expect you to know about them, yet a
remarkably large number of candidates each year write out-of-date answers. This has a
signifcant negative impact upon the marks they achieve. Updating your knowledge is very
important for a lawyer, since clients and judges will be distinctly unimpressed (and clients
may sue you) if you are ignorant of legal changes.
10 See the law in action
What you read in books or hear about in lectures will often make more sense if you can go
to see proceedings in Court. Law is a live subject and the more diffcult issues come to life
when you see a real application of them.
Studytime
You should probably spend at least eight hours a week on this subject, increasing the
amount to two hours daily in the six weeks before the examination. Remember, though,
that individuals vary greatly in their needs; the time to stop studying is when you know the
topic thoroughly and are confdent about applying its rules and not till then. It is very im-
portant to plan your time carefully. Use the diary in the Student Handbook to create a study
plan. Do not forget to leave time every week and month for revision in addition to the
period before the examination. Revision must be a continuous process, not a last-minute
panic; it is better not to be fuelled by caffeine or sleep-deprived.
Practisingwritingexamanswers
Begin by looking up as much as you need to answer the
question.
Make any notes you think necessary, including a frame-
work for an answer. Then put your notes aside and try
to write your answer in 3540 minutes. Later, choose
another question and try to answer it in the same pe-
riod of time, but without any preliminary reading. Make
a plan for your answer as part of the unseen exercise
within the 3540 minute period.
Practisingwritingexamanswers
Begin by looking up as much as you need to answer the
question.
Make any notes you think necessary, including a frame-
work for an answer. Then put your notes aside and try
to write your answer in 3540 minutes. Later, choose
another question and try to answer it in the same pe-
riod of time, but without any preliminary reading. Make
a plan for your answer as part of the unseen exercise
within the 3540 minute period.
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1.3 Theexamination
The LLB Learning skills for law guide (latest edition, which you should have been sent) is
essential reading.
1.3.1 Generaladvice
At the end of the academic year of course there is the examination. If you have worked
consistently and well throughout the year this should not be too daunting. All you are
being asked to do is to demonstrate to the examiners that you have mastered the subject
to the required standard; you will be able to do this if you have undertaken suffcient study
throughout the year. Where too many students go wrong is to think that they only have
to study and revise four, fve or six topics. That is a very serious mistake. The topic you
were relying on may not appear on the examination paper, or it may appear, but in a way
which you have not expected. It will often be in a form which requires an appreciation of
other, related, topics. You may therefore not have the confdence to attempt an answer.
Or one topic might be combined with another and you fnd that have only revised half the
question. If you have worked conscientiously and covered the syllabus fully, you will not
encounter any of these diffculties. Every year some candidates appear to answer the wrong
question by mistake, without realising the signifcance of key aspects of the question; this
can only be because of lack of breadth of subject knowledge.
Having said that, it is not necessary to revise the entire syllabus. There may be one or two
topics which you just cannot get to grips with. If that is the case, then look at the topic in-
telligently and ask yourself whether it is suffciently unrelated to other topics to leave safely
out of consideration for the examinations. But be careful: as I have said repeatedly already,
so much of land law is inter-related. You cannot hope to pass without an understanding of
how it all fts together. Furthermore, if you are planning a career in law, you cannot afford
to have gaps in your knowledge. It is a very competitive career, so why put yourself at a
disadvantage at this stage?
1.3.2 Theformatoftheexamination
The examination usually comprises eight questions. Some of these are essay questions,
which require you to show knowledge of the law and a critical approach to the law, and
sometimes an evaluation of recent or likely reform. You must be familiar with how each
topic in land law might appear in a problem question: for example, if A has promised B
that she can live in his house for the rest of her life, you should be able to recognise that
this triggers a discussion of whether B has gained the right to do so through a contrac-
tual licence or estoppel, and the nature of the arguable right. If X often walks across land
belonging to Y, you should recognise that this could be an easement, a licence or even
adverse possession depending upon the other facts given in the question.
To cope with problem questions successfully, you must be able to see what issues arise
from the facts and advise on them accurately and succinctly, referring always to the sourc-
es of law upon which you rely for your conclusions. The law may well be uncertain. If so,
you must explain why, and then choose what you believe to be the decision most likely to
be made by the court, giving reasons for your choice. There may be several potential lines
of argument (as in the last example): make all of them, evaluating factors for and against
the success of each. If a question asks you to advise a particular person, do so, considering
the impact of your arguments upon that person.
In general, you must be aware of major proposals for reform of the law. Land law has been
in a process of overhaul for some years, with further changes planned. You must also show
a capacity for independent thought. It follows that during your studies you should:
think for yourself about the persuasiveness of the arguments put forward in what you read
read around the topic you have access to many useful sources of further reading online
discuss problems with your tutor or lecturer if you have one
discuss problems with fellow students, either in person or via the VLE.
Statute books: You are allowed to bring one of the permitted statute books into the exami-
nation room. Remember the rules about highlighting and not annotating statute books.

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1.3.4 Tengoldenrulesfordevelopingexaminationtechnique
1 Prepare thoroughly. In particular, practise doing the sample examination questions at
the end of each chapter of this subject guide. Remember, however, that examiners do not
write the same questions every year, nor do they routinely use past examination papers as
a basis for new ones. Each years examinations test the current syllabus and recent develop-
ments, not your ability to pass last years examinations!
2 Read the exam paper carefully. Choose the four questions that you want to answer, and
make a rough allocation of time.
3 Once you have chosen your four questions, make rough notes on the answers to all
four questions before you begin to write a full answer to any of the questions. We do not
always remember at once all the information that we have learned. If you adopt this plan,
you give your memory the maximum opportunity to remember what you need for all the
questions. Pieces of information can be recalled, apparently as the result of subconscious
mental activity, while the mind is concentrating on something else. But you need to have
stimulated the memory by trying to plan all your questions frst. Make sure that you have
made important distinctions e.g. is the title to the land registered or unregistered? Have
any interests which require entry on the Register been so entered? Are the relevant rights
and interests of the parties legal or equitable? Do the facts occur before or after a major
statute in the area came into force? These distinctions are a vital part of your plan. Your
plan should also include any relevant diagram.
4 Answer the question set. This is particularly applicable to essay questions, and it involves
two prohibitions. First, do not just write all you know about the topic. Very little, if any,
credit will be given for that. Each question will have a particular slant or angle which
requires careful thought and the selection of relevant information and knowledge. Second,
do not write an essay about a different topic. At the root of both these faults is failure to
prepare properly. You do not prepare properly by question-spotting. Answering a differ-
ent question to the one set will result in poor marks. Remember, law is about the ability to
advise a client, which requires precision in your application of knowledge; it is not about
having a broad general knowledge of the feld into which their problem falls.
5 Write tidily and legibly. If you practise writing questions under examination conditions
during your studies, you should fnd that you are able to write at speed, but also tidily and
legibly, in the examination. Very short answers struggle to do well. Examiners will not mark
answers which are illegible.
6 Follow the instructions on the front page of the answer book. The instruction that
candidates most commonly fail to obey is that which tells them to tie in any extra pages at
the end of the book, inside the back cover. Do not write in the space reserved for examin-
ers, and do not leave blank pages without reason. Remember that you are asked to fll in a
space that sets out the numbers of the questions you have attempted in the order in which
they have been attempted and not in numerical order; many candidates forget to do so.
Please try not to tie your booklets together so tightly that we are unable to turn the pages!
7 Do not write notes to the examiner. It is pointless to write, for example, No time for
more at the end of the last question; the examiner can see that!
8 Do not write too much or too little. In particular, remember that you are allowed to bring
a collection of statutes into the examination hall to give you more time to answer the
questions effectively. You are not expected to spend time copying out large extracts from
statutes. You will gain no credit for doing so, and you will lose the time required to write
a good answer, so you will lose marks as well. Good planning of your time at the start of
the exam should prevent you from writing too much on a particular question, and hence
too little on another. So should attention to the question, which itself will impose limits
on what has to be covered. Of course, the careless or badly prepared student who settles
down to write all he or she knows about a particular subject is likely to end up writing
far too much and failing. As a rough guide, approximately three to four pages should be
enough for a good answer. This, of course, assumes that you write, as you should, on every
line, and that your handwriting is not over-large. Be ruthless with timing in the examination
it is easier to gain the frst 40 marks in a question than the remaining marks, yet many
candidates spend large amounts of time attempting to improve a good answer, leaving too
little time to do justice to further questions. Do the maths: it is diffcult to pass, let alone to
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do well, if you have not answered all four questions required. A candidate who devotes all
their time to writing three frst-class answers will end up with around 53% overall; three 2:1
answers will produce an overall mark of around 45%. A bare pass in a fourth question would
have added ten marks to the average of either of these profles!
9 Refer appropriately to cases and statutory sections to support your propositions of law.
When doing so, show some knowledge of the facts of cases; do not just refer to the name of
the case as you would in a legal encyclopaedia. Underline case names by all means, but not
references to statutes or anything else. Do not use highlighting materials. Examiners read
your answers carefully and do not need you to remind them to do so. Spell the names of
cases correctly. If you read the cases and note them properly, this should not be a problem.
10 The fnal piece of advice is a reminder to read the question carefully. You must answer the
question the examiner has asked, not some variation on this. Irrelevant material will not
earn any marks. Thus Chapter 11, Sample Exam Question 2 requires you to critically evaluate
both the old law of adverse possession and the new law under the 2002 Land Registration
Act. You must do so in order to get a decent mark; dealing only with the new law misses
half the scope of the question.
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1.4 Anintroductoryactivity
Since this Guide is not a textbook and it is always better to learn by doing something for
yourself rather than being told it, we will start with some basic but crucial defnitions. You
will need to understand all of these in order to complete this course successfully; and for
important contextual reasons you should also be aware of the historical development of
land law as covered in the following reading, although it will not be examined in its own
right. Briefy read Chapters 1 and 2 in Gray and Gray and Chapter 1 in Dixon, plus the relevant
chapter in your casebook, and make notes on them, then fll in the following defnitions/
explanations, and statutory provisions where relevant.
Concept Defnition and explanation
cuius est solum rule
fxture
chattel
ownership of land
possession of land
concept of title to land
theory of tenure
doctrine of estates
legal estates in land
feudal tenure
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Concept Defnition and explanation
fee simple estate
modifed fee simple
leasehold estate
real property
personal property
proprietary right/interest
personal right/interest
trust
trustee
settlor
benefciary and benefcial
interest
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Concept Defnition and explanation
settlement
legal right (and when it is
binding on third parties)
equity
equitable right/interest
(and when it is binding on
third parties)
estate in possession
estate in reversion
estate in remainder
registered title
unregistered title
No answers are provided for this activity. If, as you continue your study, you feel that you
got one or more of these defnitions wrong, come back to this activity and make revisions.
Good luck with your studies!
Claire de Than , July 2008.
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