• Inactive for Year: 2024/25

• Module Leader(s): Dr Bronwen Jones

• Owning School: Newcastle Law School
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

• This module aims to allow the student to appreciate the purposes and context of Land Law. This involves developing a sound knowledge and understanding of the basic principles underlying land law as well as the rules. Land Law is a technical subject, which many students find difficult at first. It requires mastery of unfamiliar terms and concepts. However, the course aims to scaffold learning, in such a way that it is accessible.

• An understanding of Land Law is of fundamental importance. "Since land provides the physical substratum for all social and economic interaction, the law of land is inevitably an expression of social status and an instrument of social engineering. All of us - even the truly homeless -live somewhere, and each therefore stands in some relation to land as owner- occupier, tenant, licensee or squatter. In this way land law impinges upon a vast area of social orderings and expectations, exerting a fundamental influence on the lifestyles of ordinary people." Kevin Gray, Elements of Land Law, Butterworths, 1988, p6.

• We examine the legal rules and principles underpinning people's rights over land. We look at the changes which have been made to the law in this and the last century and consider whether further changes might be beneficial.

• The course also directly addresses the following requirements for the SQE: Registered land; Freehold and leasehold estates, and legal and equitable interests in land; and the Landlord and tenant relationship, as well as Co-ownership.

• Over centuries, English courts and Parliaments have built a richly detailed structure of great complexity governing the uses of and relationships to Land. This course aims to enable students to understand this structure in both its philosophical and historical context. This means developing an understanding of its controversial philosophical underpinnings. “To study modern laws of private property ownership without accounting for the significance of the colonial scene to their development is to disaffiliate the development of modern law from its deep engagements with colonial sites in the ways that parallel the literary disavowals of colonialism diagnosed by Said. There cannot be a history of private property law, as the subject of legal studies and political theory in early modern England that is not at the same time a history of land appropriation in Ireland, the Caribbean, North America and beyond.” Brenna Bhandar Colonial Lives of Property, DUP, 2018, p3.

• The course will not address unregistered land as it seems unwise (based on past experience) to try to teach both registered and unregistered land in such a short time. However, this leaves scope for a further optional module covering other aspects of land law (unregistered land, covenants, and mortgages e.g.)

Outline Of Syllabus

Topics covered include the following, although the order and precise content may vary.

• Introduction – overview – philosophical underpinnings of Property and Land law – distinction between real and personal property – tenure and estates – ownership and possession – Legislative developments – estates and interests in land – law and equity.

• Acquiring title by limitation (adverse possession)
General principles – limitation period – requirements for acquisition – elements of adverse possession – interruption – consequences

• Land Registration
Registration of title – the issue of priority – overreaching– the protection of third-party rights, minor interests and overriding interests – the scheme for registered title – contract and conveyance

• Leases
The distinction between a lease and a licence– creating a lease/term of years absolute – types of lease – exclusive possession –– position of the tenant – position of the landlord – security of tenure – ability to bind a purchaser

• Co-ownership
Features of co-ownership – The trust of land including the TLATA 1996 – distinguishing between a joint tenancy and tenancy in common – severance – overreaching – sale by a surviving trustee – TLATA 1996 sections 14 and 15

• Easements
Easements: nature Re-Ellenborough Park; acquisition by express or presumed grant – acquisition by implication: section 62 LPA 1925 – Wheeldon v Burrows – necessity – common intention – reform proposals

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The use of lecturing as the principal teaching method continues to be justified by the technical nature of the subject. However, due to the mainly non-synchronous nature of delivery this year, the lectures will take a variety of forms and will be broken down into shorter pieces of narrative. Thus, while lectures will be the main form of non-synchronous delivery of material, this will be delivered using a combination of text, audio and video. It will be broken down into shorter periods to ensure that the material is accessible. Students will prepare for lecture type activities by reading the allocated materials and engaging with exercises before and after. Lectures and seminars will be supplemented by a variety of online methods to encourage interaction, provide opportunities and, to ensure that the material is as accessible as possible in order to assist students in acquiring knowledge and understanding of:

• the underlying theory and basic principles of Land Law,
• the foundations of Law and Equity,
• the reforms in Land Law that have led to the development of the two systems of unregistered and registered land,
• an understanding of estates and interests in land, and
• an understanding of the importance of adhering to the formalities of creation of estates and interests in land, including registration and the consequences of failing to do so.

Seminars/workshops focus strongly on the skills outcomes, including problem-solving and critical analysis. Students will have the opportunity, to demonstrate knowledge, understanding and application. There will also be an emphasis on reading the academic commentary and an opportunity for discussion of the work of leading commentators. Seminars/workshops will be preceded by student-led activities and materials intended to check student learning. This is in addition to the student preparation time, providing as much opportunity for interaction, questions and answers, in the seminars themselves as possible.

Guided activities will scaffold student learning by ensuring that they manage their time to study effectively using both self-review and peer-review. Such activities will include preparation of posters.

'Drop-in/surgery' contact time is provided in this module as part of the Law School assessment and feedback policy such that markers and/or module leaders will offer the opportunity for one-to-one oral feedback on students' written work, in addition to written feedback on coursework front sheets and generic class feedback. The time given above is merely indicative and more time may be scheduled, if necessary, to meet the demand for individual feedback

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams

Zero Weighted Pass/Fail Assessments

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Summative assessment is provided by means of a 48 hour open book examination. An examination permits students an opportunity to demonstrate understanding of the material and skills. The medium is particularly suitable for assessing problem solving skills and allows students to demonstrate intended learning outcomes across a broad range of topics within the syllabus.

There is a requirement that students complete MCQs. This ensures engagement with core knowledge and provides a feedback opportunity to students during the course of study.

Reading Lists

• LAW1122's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• LAW1122's Timetable