LAND LAW 2 - 2022/3

Module Overview

The module builds on the content of Land Law I in relation to developing greater understanding of various third-party rights in land and how title to land can be held in co-ownership. The module also examines the key concepts of mortgages, trusts of land and proprietary estoppel.

Module provider

School of Law

Module Leader

THANAPAL Vickie (Schl of Law)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Trusts of Land

• Situations where land will be held behind a trust;


• The reason behind the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996;


• Formalities involved in creating a trust of land;


• Trustees of land and their powers;


• Restrictions of the powers enjoyed by trustees of land;


• The rights of beneficiaries under a trust of land;


• Resolving disputes between trustees and between trustees and beneficiaries;


• Protecting a purchaser of land from trustees of land;


• Ending the trust of land.

• Joint tenancies


• Tenancies in Common


• Severance in equity


• Devolution of legal estate and equitable interest

• Resulting Trust


• Constructive Trust


• Quantification of beneficial interest

• Establishing the estoppel;


• Remedies.

• The distinction between restrictive covenants and positive covenants;


• Introduction to basic principles including the context in which these covenants are created and consideration of how they place limitations on absolute ownership of land;


• Enforcement of covenants between the original parties;


• Enforcement of covenants between successors in title to the original parties, contrasting


• the position at common law and in equity;


• Protection of covenants in the registered and unregistered system;


• The consequences of breaching covenants;


• Modifying and discharging covenants.

• Easements in context - contrast easements with other rights and how easement limit  a landowner’s absolute ownership of land;


• Characteristics of an easement;


• Creation of legal easements, including express creation, implied creation and prescription;


• Extinguishing easements.

• Historical Development of the mortgage of land;


• Creation of legal mortgages;


• Protection of borrower and the equity of redemption;


• Lender’s remedies where borrower defaults;

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

  The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

 

The assessment addresses all learning outcomes listed above. Assessment will determine whether students have acquired a detailed accurate knowledge of the substantive areas of law covered, whether they have a good level of understanding of the fundamental principles of land law covered in the module and if they can present a coherent argument and analyse the arguments of others. Students will need to demonstrate that they can extract legal principles from case law and statutes, that they can apply legal principles and rules to factual situations, and that they can perform critical evaluation of these principles and undertake independent research to supplement the prescribed readings. Students will receive verbal feedback on their performance during tutorials.  In addition, they will undertake a written formative assessment in the form of a formative exam consisting of a single question of the type they can expect during the summative examination, on which they will receive individual written feedback.

 

  Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A single examination consisting of four questions from which students will need to answer two.

Module aims

• The aim of this module is to build on the principles introduced in Land Law I to develop an understanding of the fundamental concepts of property law and the structure and operation of English land law to a high level. The module examines in detail a range of different types of rights and interests in land identified in Land Law I and issues arising in the creation and enforcement of such rights. It also partially fulfils the requirements of the Qualifying Law Degree relating to the law of property.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

Teaching and learning methods continue and develop those adopted in Land Law I. Students are introduced to key content of each topic through weekly two hour lectures. They are also provided with readings and questions to prepare in advance of smaller group seminar/tutorial session which consist of one hour sessions taking place weekly over seven weeks. The aim of the lecture sessions is to draw out and present systematically the basic principles and underlying concepts of each topic and to take students through the key arguments and legal rules presented in the materials they will need to read.

The large-group lectures are supplemented by seven small-group tutorials in which the materials covered and issues raised in the lectures are reviewed and discussed in greater detail focusing on rules of law and associated jurisprudential issues which have caused debate or contention. Students are provided with problem solving questions on the topic to be covered, to prepare in advance for each tutorial. The tutorial provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of the work the students have prepared, and an opportunity for students to develop and demonstrate legal analytical skills and understanding of the substantive legal issues covered in the tutorial. In these sessions students are expected to demonstrate their knowledge of the materials set, their ability to present a coherent argument and assess the validity of arguments presented by others, and to facilitate their critical understanding of the legal rules and principles studied by applying them to hypothetical examples.

 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: LAW2082

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2022/3 academic year.