Registered and Unregistered Land - Essay Example

? If the sale goes through will Mr. Matthews be bound by any interest that Alice or Peter have in the property? Please explain your answer with reference to appropriate legal principles and authorities. [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution] If the sale goes through will Mr. Matthews be bound by any interest that Alice or Peter have in the property? Please explain your answer with reference to appropriate legal principles and authorities. Registered and Un-registered land Before answering the mentioned question, it is utmost important to go through the land laws, property laws, the landlord and the tenant laws of the United Kingdom. As per UK law there are two sorts of land a) registered and b) unregistered. Each has its own rules and regulations with regard to treansfer of land from one hand to another hand besides enforcement of third party proprietary interests1. The Land Registration Act 2002 which is in vogue came into being on October 13th 2003. New Act has more space for a) number of titles b) over riding interest and c) electronic conveyancing. This has simplified the land transfer system. Hence, buyer needs not to worry about the vendor’s entitlement to deal with the property2. Unlike unregistered land where the purchasor needs to go through the register himself in order to find out whether third party proprietary interest is binding or not. Kinds of Leases The basic leases are four in numbers a) Gross Lease b) Full Service Lease c) Gross Industrial Lease and d) Triple Net Lease. Each landlord has to decide which lease is best suited to him. It is the duty of the attorney to let his clientle (tenant) know which lease is beneficial to him. In commercial type of real estate lease, interest of stakeholders (Landlord and the Tenant) is ensured. It would be in the best interest of mentioned parties if they chose right type of lease3. Tenancy Agreement In accordance with the Landlord and Tenant Law of UK, tenancy agreement is an agreement that executes between the landlord and the tenant for renting out the premises. By all means, it is a legal contract. It can be in two ways, oral or written. However, the written agreement is more viable option for both the stakeholders, i.e. landlord and the tenant since it provides more concrete evidence and binding in terms of law4. Yes, some of the tenancy terms are implied even if they are not mutually agreed upon. Implied terms indicate rights, obligations and the protective clauses in line with the Residential Tenancies Act currently enforced. The Residential Tenancies Act fully protects the rights of the tenant. If the tenancy agreement includes something mutually agreed upon by the landlord and the tenant, which is not allowed by the said Act, would be binding for either party to comply with it5. Sometimes people are a little bit confused with regard to the meaning of word “lease”. In fact, the mentioned word refers to the fixed term, say one year or more tenure. This is incorrect. It can be on a month-to-month or week-to-week basis. In order to avoid confusion, the term “lease” is not used frequently in such transaction. However, in the larger interest of the landlord and the tenant, the term “tenancy agreement” can be used for the rented property6. Fixed Term Tenancy In a fixed term tenancy, the tenant agrees to have the premises for a certain period of time against mutually agreed amount of rent and the security deposit. Under the mentioned situation, if the period of time ends, the tenancy agreement ends automatically. Here, no notice is required to serve by either party until and unless it was specifically incorporated in the tenancy agreement. If the notice period was incorporated in the said agreement, either party is bound to serve the notice accordingly. After the expiration of the fixed term of tenancy, if the tenant does not vacate the rented premises, the tenancy agreement turns into periodic tenancy agreement, according to which, the tenant has to pay the rent as desired by the landlord. Once a tenancy period starts, it will last till the landlord or the tenant gives appropriate notice to terminate the tenancy agreement7. Case under Discussion Interest of Alice in the Property Family Law Act 1996 The purpose of FLA 1996 is to ensure potential purchaser can safely buy a home free from any possible matrimonial home rights, if no such rights have been registered. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 gave a civil partner the same rights of occupation as a spouse8. In accordance with Family Law Act 1996, Alice can claim interest in her husband’s self acquired property since she has contributed substantial amount in her hubby’s property. The other option is posthumous where will of the husband matters. Otherwise, she has no option to claim any interest in his property. There is no mention about her interest in the property to be sold out to Mr. Matthews by her husband9. Interest of Peter in the Property As per English law, the intended purchaser of a property, which is already on rent, has all the rights and obligations of the former landlord. The new purchaser of the property has to accept the original tenancy agreement. The original tenancy agreement can be altered on its expiry or with the mutual consent of the tenant during the course of the tenancy agreement as the case may be. Apart from the above mentioned requirement, the Residential Tenancies Act empowers new owner to serve existing tenant with a notice mentioning therein the security deposit amount including applicable interest accrued thereon obtained by the former landlord. After acquiring the possession of the property in question, the new landlord has the responsibility to refund the security deposit and the accrued interest on it to the tenant after ending the term of tenancy coupled with handing over peaceful vacant possession of the property10. After studying the relevant laws and the mentioned scenario, we have come to the conclusion that in the sold out property to Mr. Matthews, Alice, the wife of Jeffery (the former owner) has no legal interest in the referred property. However, as far as the rights and obligations of the fixed term tenancy agreement are concerned, the new owner is obliged to comply with the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement that have been executed between the old owner and the existing tenant. In other words, Peter has restricted interest in the sold out property to Mr. Matthews. References Blandy, Sarah, and Barry Goodchild. "From tenure to rights: conceptualizing the changing focus of housing law in England." Housing, Theory and Society16, no. 1 (1999): 31-42. Burke, Barlow. 2003. Personal Property in a Nutshell. 3d ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West. Flint, John, and Judy Nixon. "Governing neighbours: Anti-social behaviour orders and new forms of regulating conduct in the UK." Urban Studies 43, no. 5-6 (2006): 939-955. Jordan, Robert L., William D. Warren, and Steven D. Walt. 2000. Secured Transactions in Personal Property. 5th ed. New York: Foundation Press. Lister, Diane. "Tenancy agreements: a mechanism for governing anti-social behaviour?." Housing, Urban Governance And Anti-social Behaviour: Perspectives, Policy And Practice (2006): 119. Mattei, Ugo. Basic principles of property law: a comparative legal and economic introduction. Vol. 93. Praeger Pub Text, 2000. Merrill, Thomas W., and Henry E. Smith. "Optimal standardization in the law of property: the numerous clauses principle." The Yale Law Journal 110, no. 1 (2000): 1-70. Torremans, Paul. Holyoak and Torremans intellectual property law. Oxford University Press, 2005. Read More