Property No 7 - Estates in Land

In English land law a parcel of "land" (which includes any buildings) is owned as an "estate".  Colloquially, the estates are the  "freehold"  and the "leasehold". (They have statutory definitions.)

Each has its own set of specific qualities but the essential differences are as follows:

• a leasehold estate is "carved out" of a freehold estate when the freeholder grants a lease to the leaseholder;
• the grant of lease is for a term (or period) of years (it is useful to bear in mind that periodic (weekly, monthly etc) tenancies are common but are distinguished from a lease of a term of years);
• a lease is held from the freeholder on certain terms and conditions;
• a leaseholder (tenant) pays rent on an annual or lesser periodic basis, eg monthly.

Thus, a leasehold is a contract between the landlord and the leaseholder (tenant) by which the landlord allows the tenant possession of "land" on certain terms and conditions where in essence:

• the tenant agrees to a) pay the rent,  b) to comply with the terms and conditions applying to him/her, and to give up possession at the end of the lease; and,
• the landlord agrees to comply with the terms and conditions applying to him/her, and to give the tenant 'quiet enjoyment'.

It may be noted that the above is a brief look at the fundamentals - there is much detail not considered and, in addition, statutes impose many other obligations on the parties, particularly landlords.

Property No 6 - Adverse Possession

Adverse possession comes about when a neighbour or stranger enters on to land and takes unauthorised possession of it against all-comers. After long period of possession (10 or 12 years) such a person may seek to be registered as having title to the land. The application must be made to and processed by the Land Registry.

The Land Registration Act 2002 and case law govern the rights and obligations of the parties involved in any dispute about a claim for adverse possession.

In essence the "squatter" must show the following for the relevant period:

• no consent to the possession was sought or given;
• no rent has been paid to the owner of the land;
• the land has been occupied and maintained;
• the land was held against others, eg by walls and fences and gates.

Even so there are circumstances which result in title being refused.

Property - Timeline

Generally for taxation see the link: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/agents/tax-deadlines.pdf for dates which your (if any) tax agent's will need to comply.
The following list of dates and detail has been compiled from several sources - it may not be accurate. You are strongly advised, therefore, not to rely exclusively on this information but be sure to check any relevant dates, etc with your professional advisers before taking action.

2012
January

• 31st        Watch out for particular weekend arrangements, if OK or not relevant, last day for on-line self-assessment for income tax year 2010/2011. (Digital password and other security checks/data should be obtained by a certain last day earlier in month!)

March

• 21st       Budget Day  

April

• 1st            All VAT-registered businesses must submit returns on-line from this date. There are a limited number of exemptions for small businesses.
•                   New  corporation tax year 2012/2013 begins.
•                  Annual invstment allowance (AIA) on company's expenditure on plant and machinery is reduced to £25,000 pa.
•                  If accounting period goes across 1 April, any qualifying expenditure is apportioned - so be aware...?
•                  Seed Investment Entreprise Allowance (SIEA) - Investors get reliefs from income tax and capital gains tax.
•                  Local taxation year begins for both council tax and  rating.
• 6th            New income tax year  2012/2013 begins                                   

October 

• 1st(?)     The energy Green Deal scheme begins.
• 31st        Last date for paper submission of income tax self-assessment for tax year 2011/2012

2013


2014
              2014 to 2019   Prospective plan is to fit 50 million smart meters (for energy monitoring) into dwellings
2015


2016

Property No 5 - Restrictive Covenants No 2 - "Estate" or "Building" Covenants

Restrictive covenants are a complex subject in law and estate practice - it is prudent to know about them and, in particular, whether any affect your property or a property you intend to purchase/sell, redevelop/ adapt, occupy/let, etc. Furthermore, you would probably need the advice of a solicitor and/or professional surveyor in dealing with any restrictive covenant problem which may arise.

Restrictive covenants are often one-off in the sense that they apply between one property and a second property. Post No 1 gave an example of this type. Another type of restrictive covenant applies as a "building" covenant", "development covenant", or "estate covenant". The names refer to the same type of covenant.

With a building covenant the developer-owner of say, a housing estate, imposes one or more restrictive covenants with the intention of binding the vendors of each house. The intention is that upon a breach of covenant(s) by a vendor,  the developer-owner may enforce the covenant(s) in respect of any retained property and that each vendor may enforce any covenant(s) against another vendor.  Should any vendor's successor in title breach covenant(s) it is also intended that the covenants are enforcable against that successor in title.

Finally, the restrictive covenant is be mutually enforcable: if the developer-owner should breach covenant(s) any vendor (or successor) may take action to enforce the covenant(s).

Community Assets No 13 - Community Groups and Social Enterprises (No 1)

In Post No 12 I looked briefly at CPO-ing and funding of the acquisition of a local asset, ie under the Localism Act 2011, one of community value. This post outlines the types of community groups likely to be active in enhancing communities and assets of community value.

Community groups come in many guises and sizes and may be distinguished from social enterprises. Most are regulated under a particular statute which will provide the framework of a body's regulation. Several have particular ways of raising funds, ie ways which relate to their status (see a later post).

A partial list of the bodies involved in a community might carry such descriptions or tags (in the sense the terms are used colloquially) as the following:

• a "charitable trust";
• a "charitable company";
• a "cooperative society";
• a "community group";
• a "community interest company";
• a "community benefit society";
• a "development trust"
• a "housing association";
• a "housing trust";
• a "industrial and provident society"
• a "social company".

Each of the above (and others) will fit into one of two broad categories as social enterprises and community or national groups. The latter, for instance, may be national charity with some local invlovement. The inclusions in a category denote a commonly held functional status, eg charitable, but the "name" say, "community interest group" denotes a legal status . The two broad types are:

1. social enterprises, eg a) industrial and provident society; b) community interest company; c) partnership; and
2. community or "national" groups, eg a) unincorporated (membership) associations; b) charitable bodies, such as charitable trusts/ companies/ incorporated organisations.

Property No 4 - Restrictive Covenants No1 (Update No1 - 24 December 2011)

A restrictive covenant burdens a parcel of land owned by say, A for the benefit of another parcel of land which is owned by B.

Example: A's land is a small house on a large plot. It is subject to a restrictive covenant that its use shall be limited to being a plot for one house. A obtains planning permission to build two more dwellings on his land. His contractor puts up a sign and begins to clear the site for the first new house. B immediately calls A and tells him of the restrictive covenant. The builder is instructed by A to cease work. The builder does so and sues A for breach of contract!

Firstly,  note that these matters are being described in very general and straightforward terms. They are not so easy to solve as may be implied. It is therefore strongly advised to seek the advice of a solicitor or specialist professional surveyor before proceeding.

Back to A - if a landowner has A's situation he/she should have perhaps been able to seek the remedy beforehand. Possible "solutions" are:

• Recognising the strength of the neighbour's situation, do nothing.
• Seek to insure for "defective" title - if the restrictive covenant is very old and it is not obvious that anyone nearby benefits from it, an insurance policy might be obtainable;
• Again if the restrictive covenant is old etc, seek to have it discharged or modified under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925;
• Negotiate to have the covenant lifted by the owner of the land taking the benefit of the covenant;
• The last (for the imprudent perhaps) is to proceed anyway - the nearby landowner  may not be so alert as the real B above! BUT that is very risky!

Community Assets No 13 - Assets of Community Value

Is it time for those in neighbourhoods to create their own list of community assets?. Yes and no; but we should only be interested in assets which have community value.

Although I cannot claim to be a local authority (see Localism Act 2011, s 106(1) and (3)) I have decided to create my generic list of assets of community value (s.  ). As far as I know no similar list exists - but firstly I need to check or try to interpret the Act so as to know what is wanted on my list.

The Act gives the following pointers:

1. building or other land;
2. the actual current use of;
3. in the recent past the actual current use 
4. not an ancilliary use;
5. furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community;
6. reasonable to expect that in the next five years the actual current use (but not necessarily the same as before) could further...etc;

[Note I intend to expand the "pointers" by updating the post later.]

My list would include:

• village greens and town greens - already registered (listed) and protected uner the Commons Act 2006;
• prospective village or town greens (there is an expectation of a result of a government consultation on this topic) ;
• recreation grounds, parks, and other open spaces;
• footpaths, bridleways, cycleways and other such ways;
• land with protected trees, ancient monuments and the like;
• buildings and other assets of historic or architectural worth;
• village halls, community centres, youth clubs and similar premises;
• libraries;
• public houses;
• post offices and other neighbourhood shops; and,
• almshouses and similar establishments for seniors.

Of course, much depends on the community and the existing quality and extent of the environs for its social wellbeing and social interest. Can that be measured objectively?