Types Of Interest In Land

Legal Interest an Equitable interests are interests involved in proprietary rights in land but they are both different from each other in different aspects. The interest in land are listed below and are explained for better understanding.

Legal Interests: A right in or over land. It may comprise equitable ownership of the land (such as the interest of the tenant for life under a settlement), where the legal estate is owned by trustees; or the benefit of some other right over the land of another, such as an easement or rentcharge. Interests of the latter type can be legal or equitable, but under the Law of Property Act 1925 only interests owned on terms equivalent to a fee simple absolute in possession or a term of years absolute qualify as legal interests. A person interested in land is one who has rights in it. See also equitable interests.

Equitable Interest: Interests in property originally recognized by the Court of Chancery, as distinct from legal interests recognized in the common-law courts. They arose in cases when it was against the principles of equity for a person to enforce a legal right. Originally equitable rights (e.g. a trust, or the equity of redemption under a mortgage) were enforceable against the person with a legal right over property in question. Later, however, those who were given the property by the holder of the legal interests took it subject to equitable interests; later still, anyone who bought property knowing of the equitable interests was bound by them. In the developed law, everyone took property subject to equitable interests except those who bought it and neither knew nor ought to have known of the equitable interests (the doctrine of notice). Since 1925, equitable interests may be protected by the doctrine of overreaching, under the system of land charges, or by notice. Or it can also be defined as An interest in, or ownership of, property that is recognized by equity but not by the common law. A beneficiary under a trust has an equitable interest. Any disposal of an equitable interest (e.g. a sale) must be in writing. Some equitable interests in land must be registered or they will be lost.

Freehold Interest

Freehold land is land over which the Crown has granted an interest. The freehold interest is the least restricted interest in land and is usually known as 'ownership' of land. Unlike leasehold, the land is no longer called Crown land after the freehold interest has been granted. The Crown cannot put conditions on the use of the land like it can with Leasehold. There may be some restrictions on how the land can be used because of other laws (such as local government laws). The terms 'freehold' and 'fee simple' mean the same thing and are usually both called 'ownership' of land.

Freehold gives the owner of that interest the exclusive right to the land for an indefinite period of time. The owner of the freehold can sell the land to anyone else. The owner may also lease (or rent) the land to someone else on whatever conditions they like (just like the Crown can lease land).

When the Crown grants the freehold interest, it keeps a right to compulsorily buy the land back (in other words, even if you do not agree with the Crown buying the land back, it can) for public works such as roads, railways, bridges, schools, hospitals or other purposes to benefit the State. When freehold land is needed for that sort of use, the Crown first tries to buy the land by agreement with the owner. If that fails, then the Crown will compulsorily buy the land and pay compensation to the owners. For example when Williams 1 defeated the English he made grants of land to his followers, to certain of the English baron and to those who submitted to his control, the grantee there upon became holder or tenants of the land, since under feudal law, there could not be the owner. The King is not paramount and owned the land by right of conquest.

            The follows that interest that interest in the land possessed or held by the grantee was certainty less than that of the royal grantum.

ESTATE

All the property that a person owns is part of his or her estate. An estate can include clothes, jewelry, tools, cars, musical instruments, a house, land the house is built on, cash, bank accounts, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds, and other items. After a person dies, his or her estate must be distributed.

There are three kinds of freehold estates: a fee simple, a fee tail, and a life estate.

Fee Simple Absolute A fee simple absolute is the most extensive interest in real property that an individual can possess, since it is limited completely to the individual and his or her heirs and assigns forever, and it is not subject to any limitations or conditions.

Fee Tail A fee tail is an estate subject to limitations concerning who may inherit the property, which is ordinarily created by a deed or a will.

Life Estate A life estate is an interest in property that does not amount to ownership, since it is limited by a term of life, either of the individual in whom the right is vested or some other person. It may also last only until the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an uncertain event. A life estate pur autre vie is an estate that the grantee holds for the life of another person.

TENURE

The grants of land will be made for the services as return to be rendered by the tenants the terms on which the tenant held is called the TENURE, tenure are of various kind, the chief division was between free and unfree tenure. Free tenure included the following

·         Military tenure/ Knight tenure

·         Spiritual tenure

·         Socage tenure

·         Tenure by sergeanty

This consisted in the provision of armed force men and knight for a certain number of days in each year.

Knight-Service Tenure was a form of Feudal land tenure under which a knight held a fief or estate of land termed a knight's fee (fee being synonymous with fief) from an overlord conditional on him as tenant performing military service for his overlord.

Spiritual Tenure: These are of bishops or monasteries, their sole obligation being to pray for the souls of the grantor and his heirs. Some ecclesiastics also held temporal lands for which they performed the required services.

Socage Tenure: This was where the duties were fixed, for example helping the lord with sowing or reaping at certain times of the year.

Tenure by Serjeanty: was a form of land-holding in return for some specified service, ranking between tenure by knight-service (enfeoffment) and tenure in socage. It is also used of similar forms in Continental Europe.

Unfree Tenure

This can simply be analyised to be the type of interest owned by slaves to land, it involves them rendering services to the crown, this services are unlimited and can be called off at anytime.

OWNERSHIP

Ownership of property may be private, collective, or common and the property may be objects, land/real estate, or intellectual property. Determining ownership in law involves determining who has certain rights and duties over the property. These rights and duties, sometimes called a 'bundle of rights', can be separated and held by different parties.

Real estate or immovable property is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate (immovable property) is often considered synonymous with real property, in contrast from personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to the land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate. The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.

Positive and Negative Aspect Of Freehold

In freehold covenants refers to another way by which a landowner can control and affect the use of another land such as the neighboring building and land.

The Negative Aspect of freehold is when a covenant is made to the disadvantage of the other, which the owner of the land cannot do some things to his land due to the covenant the landowner made. For example when the owner of house No1 makes a covenant with owner of land No 2 that they should not build building above certain height or develop business in their land. The land owner of No2 may want to construct a tall building but due to the covenants the owner can’t.

Positive Covenants require the owner of the burden land to take some action on their own adjoining property, usually requiring the expenditure of money. For example is a covenants to keep and maintain the external appearance of the building in order to fit the characteristics of the neighborhood.

LEASEHOLD INTEREST

A leasehold is an interest in real property in which the leaseholder doesn't own a specific piece of property but possesses a long-term lease. It involves a written rental agreement for an extended period of time. A leasehold often refers to improvements on real property when the improvements are built on land owned by one party which is leased for a long term to the owner of the building.

The following is an example of a state statute governing leaseholds:

 "Leasehold interest" shall mean an interest in publicly owned real or personal property which exists by virtue of any lease, permit, license, or any other agreement, written or verbal, between the public owner of the property and a person who would not be exempt from property taxes if that person owned the property in fee, granting possession and use, to a degree less than fee simple ownership: PROVIDED, That no interest in personal property (excluding land or buildings) which is owned by the United States, whether or not as trustee, or by any foreign government shall constitute a leasehold interest hereunder when the right to use such property is granted pursuant to a contract solely for the manufacture or production of articles for sale to the United States or any foreign government.

The term "leasehold interest" shall not include road or utility easements, rights of access, occupancy, or use granted solely for the purpose of removing materials or products purchased from a public owner or the lessee of a public owner, or rights of access, occupancy, or use granted solely for the purpose of natural energy resource exploration.

A tenant is entitled to the exclusive possession and enjoyment of the land during the period of the tenancy. The essential nature of the lease is the grant by a landlord to a tenant of exclusive possession of the property lease together with an intension to create the relationship of landlord and tenant the further essential feature of a freehold interest is that it will start and end at same definite time in the future and will continuous indefinitely. A lease must satisfy the following condition.

·         A lease must contain words of present demise and must be a complete agreement.

·         There must be an identification of the premises of lessor and lease

·         There must be an identification of the premises and dimension of the property to the leased

·         There must be a commandment date of the lease and the period of duration

TENANCY

Where two or more persons take an estate or interest in land by means of an application, transfer, mortgage, charge or lease that dealing must state whether the persons are to hold as joint tenants or tenants in common. If they hold as tenants in common the share of each person must also be stated.

There are different types of Tenancy which depends on different situation and they are;

a)      Lease For a fixed period: This tenancy are created by express agreement while the commencement and terminaton of the lease must be certain or ascertain before the lease comes into effect.

b)      Yearly Tenancies: A yearly tenancy continues from year to year until determined by proper notice. It may be created by (i) expressly or (ii)by implication

c)      Tenancy at will: This arises where a person takes possession of property with the owner consent (i.e not as a servant or agent) on the understanding that the term can be brought to end at any time by either party giving notice. The tenancy may be rent-free, but unless this has been expressly agreed between the parties the tenant must pay rent.

d)      Tenant at Sufferance: This arises by implication of law, it comes into existence where on the expiration of his tenancy, a tenant holds over without the landlord’s permission. The distinction between this and the tenancy at will is that the one case the landlord does not consent and the other he does. No rent is payable, but the tenant must compensate the owner by a payment called Mesne Profits) for the use and occupation of the land.

e)      Life Tenancy: Where landlord takes money from a tenant to repair his house and tells the tenant to live there rent free as long as he likes, a life tenancy is created in favour of the tenant.

f)       Statutory Tenancy: A statutory tenancy is a creation for statute for the benefit of the tenant and does not depend on the will or acceptance of the landlord or on the existence of a contractual tenancy. A statutory tenant has not estate or interest on the premises but only a mere right to retain possession of the property until he is ordered by the court to deliver up the possession of the landlord.