SQE1 · FLK2
Land Law
Estates, interests, registered title, easements.
Estates and interests, registered and unregistered title, co-ownership, easements, mortgages and adverse possession.
Land Law in SQE1 FLK2
Land Law is the doctrinal counterpart to Property Practice: the substantive law of estates, interests and how third-party rights bind a buyer. It is concept-heavy and tests whether you can classify an interest and work out who is bound.
What’s tested
- Legal and equitable estates and interests in land and the numerus clausus of legal interests
- Registered and unregistered title and how third-party interests are protected (notices, restrictions, overriding interests)
- Co-ownership: joint tenancy and tenancy in common, the four unities and severance
- Easements: the characteristics in Re Ellenborough Park and methods of creation and acquisition
- Freehold covenants and whether the benefit and burden run at law and in equity
- Leases: the requirements of a lease (Street v Mountford) and the landlord-and-tenant relationship
- Mortgages and the lender's remedies, including possession and sale
- Adverse possession under the Land Registration Act 2002
Leading cases to know
- Street v Mountford — lease versus licence and exclusive possession
- Re Ellenborough Park — the four characteristics of an easement
- Williams & Glyn's Bank v Boland — overriding interests and a beneficiary in actual occupation
Key statutes and rules
- Law of Property Act 1925 — the legal estates and interests in land
- Land Registration Act 2002 — registered title, overriding interests and adverse possession
- Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 — formalities for deeds and contracts
- Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 — co-ownership and trusts of land
Common SBAQ traps
- Confusing a legal interest (binds the world) with an equitable interest (depends on protection or the doctrine of notice)
- Misclassifying an arrangement as a licence when exclusive possession makes it a lease (Street v Mountford)
- Forgetting that a beneficiary in actual occupation can have an overriding interest binding a lender
How to revise Land Law for FLK2
For any scenario, run a two-step drill: classify the interest (legal or equitable), then ask whether it binds the third party on these facts. Learn the leading cases as one-line tests and the priority rules for registered land cold.
Go deeper
Free revision notes — Land Law
Land Law in FLK2 covers the fundamental concepts of English property law: the distinction between legal and equitable interests, registered and unregistered title, co-ownership, easements, covenants, mortgages, and adverse possession. The Land Registration Act 2002 and Law of Property Act 1925 are the core statutes.
Estates and interests in land
Legal estates (LPA 1925 s.1(1)): fee simple absolute in possession (freehold) and term of years absolute (leasehold). Legal interests (s.1(2)): easements, profits, rent charges, mortgages, rights of entry. All other interests are equitable only. Registered land (LRA 2002): title is absolute, good leasehold, possessory, or qualified. Registered titles carry priority through the register. Overriding interests bind purchasers without entry on the register: legal leases for 7 years or less (Sch 3 para 1), interests of persons in actual occupation (Sch 3 para 2 — ABB rule: interest, actual occupation, no knowledge-based exception for persons in occupation whose interest was not obvious on reasonable inspection and the purchaser had no actual knowledge).
Co-ownership
Co-owners hold on a trust of land (TLATA 1996). Legal title must be held as joint tenants (maximum 4); equitable title may be joint tenancy or tenancy in common. Joint tenancy: four unities (time, title, interest, possession); right of survivorship (jus accrescendi). Tenancy in common: no survivorship; each holds a defined share. Severance of joint tenancy: must be in writing for equitable title (Williams v Hensman [1861] — notice to all, acting on own share, course of dealings); any act affecting the share. A purchaser of a registered title free from an overreachable interest if they pay the purchase price to at least two trustees (LPA 1925 ss.2 and 27).
Easements
An easement must: (i) accommodate and serve the dominant tenement (Hill v Tupper [1863]); (ii) be owned by different parties; (iii) be capable of forming the subject-matter of a grant; (iv) be sufficiently definite (Phipps v Pears [1965] — no general right of protection from the weather). Creation: express grant/reservation, implied grant (Wheeldon v Burrows [1879] — quasi-easements; necessity; common intention; s.62 LPA 1925), prescription (lost modern grant, Prescription Act 1832 — 20 years' use for easements). To be legal, an easement must be substantively registered in registered land (LRA 2002 s.27). Equitable easements are third-party rights requiring notice or registration as a notice on the register.
Adverse possession
LRA 2002 replaced the old 12-year limitation period for registered land. Now: 10 years' adverse possession → applicant notifies the registered proprietor → proprietor has 65 business days to object → if no valid objection, applicant registered as proprietor → if proprietor objects successfully, must bring possession proceedings within 2 years or lose the title. Unregistered land: still the 12-year Limitation Act 1980 period. Adverse possession requires factual possession (treating the land as one's own — Pye v Graham [2002]) and an intention to possess (animus possidendi) — no requirement to intend to own.
Common pitfalls
- Treating the LRA 2002 adverse possession rules as applying to all land — the 12-year period under the Limitation Act 1980 still applies to unregistered land.
- Confusing severance methods: writing is needed for equitable severance by notice, but severance by 'acting on one's share' (e.g. mortgaging the share) does not require writing.
- Forgetting that s.62 LPA 1925 can only operate on a conveyance (not a lease), and that Wheeldon v Burrows applies on grant and reservation of a new lease.
- Misapplying the overriding interest exception: a person in actual occupation does not automatically override the register — the interest must be an interest capable of binding a purchaser.
Exam tip
For any land law problem, identify: (1) Is the land registered or unregistered? (2) Is the interest legal or equitable? (3) What is the effect on a purchaser? The answers to these three questions determine the outcome of virtually every FLK2 land law scenario.
Bank size: 76 questions. We grow the bank weekly.
Land Law — frequently asked questions
What's tested in SQE1 Land Law?
Land Law (FLK2) covers legal and equitable estates and interests in land, registered and unregistered title and the protection of third-party interests, co-ownership (joint tenancies and tenancies in common and severance), easements and profits, freehold covenants, mortgages and the lender's remedies, leases and the landlord-and-tenant relationship, and adverse possession.
Is SQE1 Land Law multiple choice?
Yes. Like the rest of SQE1, Land Law is assessed through single-best-answer questions: a client-based scenario followed by five options (A–E) from which you pick the single best answer. There is no negative marking, so it is always worth attempting every question.