The history of English land law dates back to Roman times and then to the early Middle Ages among post-Roman chiefs and Saxon monarchs, where, as in most of human history, land was the dominant source of personal wealth. English land law continued to change from the Saxon era to feudal encastellation after the Norman invasion, beginning with the Industrial Revolution and during the 19th century, when the political power of the landed aristocracy declined and modern legislation increasingly made land a social form of wealth subject to extensive social regulation, such as housing, national parks and agriculture. It is likely that English land law was provoked by the action of the policies adopted in the Lower Empire, which eventually developed into feudalism, on the pre-existing course of Germanic custom. The distinguishing features of the Germanic system were common enjoyment and the absence of private property, except to a limited extent. The main features of the ancient English land law before the conquest, from which modern law evolved, were as follows: land is often defined as virgin land (i.e. not constrained by existing buildings or infrastructure) or as industrial wasteland (i.e. what is or has been occupied by a permanent structure). During Elizabeth`s reign, the Fraudulent Transmission Act of 1571[29] and 1584[30] prevented fraudulent transfers against all parties and voluntary transfers to subsequent buyers in exchange for valuable consideration. At the beginning of Charles II`s reign, the Tenures Abolition Act of 1660 transformed most feudal possessions into property through a free and common sokage and abolished feudal incidents. The Statute of Fraud contained provisions that certain leases and assignments, as well as all land agreements and trusts, should be in writing.
The land registers of Middlesex and Yorkshire date back to Anne`s reign. Currency (gifts in will) of land for charity was prohibited by the Charitable Uses Act of 1735. [31] In the following reign, the first general inclosure law, the Inclosure (Codification) Act of 1801, was passed. [32] During the reign of William IV, fines and claims were abolished and simpler means of transmission were replaced,[33] and the laws on inheritance and dowry were amended. [4] [34] The Property Law Act 1925 was intended to reduce the number of legal estates to two and to facilitate the transfer of land shares. Second, real estate was increasingly being used as a source of financing for businesses and was also becoming a source of profit for banks, mortgage lenders and REITs. This fact led to changes in the mortgage settlement market, while growing financial interest in land tended to conflict with family life. As the UK moved closer to gender equality, women and men helped buy homes and educate families and children. In 1970, Lord Diplock noted in Pettitt v Pettitt that “the wider employment of married women in industry, commerce and professions and the emergence of real estate ownership, particularly a real estate mortgage given to a construction company, democracy” had forced the courts to recognize contributions to the household and family life as potentially generating real estate interest.
[47] However, when banks attempted to repossess the homes of people who had defaulted on mortgage repayments, the courts were faced with the choice of whether they wanted to prioritize these economic interests over social values. The United Kingdom`s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights meant that article 8 on the right to private and family life could alter the freedom of banks or owners to evict individuals, particularly where the stability and education of children were at stake, although jurisprudence had remained cautious at the beginning of the twenty-first century. [48] First, there was growing pressure to dismantle the privileges of the landed aristocracy. This included the view that all land should be registered in order to facilitate its commercialization. The Land Transfer Act of 1875 introduced a voluntary system, but it was not passed. After the general election of 1906, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, introduced a tax on land in his popular budget of 1909 to force it to be put on the market. [37] This caused a constitutional crisis, as the hereditary upper house vetoed and forced new elections. But the Liberal government was re-elected and abolished the Lord`s veto in the Parliament Act, 1911. At that time, land registry reforms were an insignificant political issue and were really only rejected by lawyers who earned considerable transfer fees.
[38] Finally, the Land Registration Act of 1925 required that any manipulation of property trigger mandatory registration. [39] During the 18th century, property law mainly stopped in legislation, but principles continued to develop in the courts, particularly under Lord Nottingham (1673–1682), Lord King (1725–1733), Lord Hardwicke (1737–1756), Lord Henley (1757–1766), and Lord Eldon (1801–1827). [35] As national and world trade developed, the power of a new monetary class of businessmen increased, and the economic and political importance of the country diminished with it. The moral philosopher and father of economics, Adam Smith, pondered these changes when he argued in The Wealth of Nations that the position of landowners allows them to earn rent from others in exchange for very little rent. [36] Another problem with land rights in India is that they make women completely dependent on the lives of their husbands. A study by Bina Agarwal found that in West Bengal, wealthy families become penniless when the male head of household dies, as women are not allowed to take over their husband`s land. [9] Because of cultural tradition, the higher the status of women, the less likely they are to have developed skills that would be useful in finding employment. [9] These women are forced to beg for food and shelter as soon as their husbands die because they were not allowed to gain work experience.
[9] The influence of local customs on land law had to be weakened after the creation of the circles of royal court judges by Henry II. Jurisdiction for disputes involving immovable property was removed from the Lord`s courts in 1392. [16] The Land Registration Act 2002 replaced previous land registration legislation. As of 2008 [Update], the Act and the Rules of the Land Registry[50][51][52] regulate the role and practice of Her Majesty`s Land Registry. Although land rights are essential for achieving a higher standard of living, certain groups of individuals are systematically excluded from land ownership regulations. The law may allow access to land, but cultural barriers and poverty traps limit the ability of minorities to own land. [7] In order to achieve equality, these groups must be granted adequate land rights that are both socially and legally recognized. Stamp duty is payable on the purchase or transfer of immovable property or immovable property in the United Kingdom whose value is above a certain threshold. For more information, see: Property tax on stamp duties.
In many parts of the world, women have access to land to cultivate and cultivate the land; However, there are traditions and cultural norms that prevent women from inheriting or buying land. [7] [11] This brings women to a place where they depend on their husbands, brothers or fathers for sustenance and shelter. [9] In cases of illness, domestic violence or death in the family, women would be landless and unable to farm for food or rent land for profit. Land ownership for women is a crucial form of security and income that increases empowerment and reduces poverty. It is assumed that the owner of the land owns the rights to the airspace, which are limited to an amount necessary for the normal use and enjoyment of the land and the layers underneath, unless these rights are surrendered (for example, sold for mining purposes). All wild animals and fish found on land within the borders are also considered the property of the landowner. The land confiscated from the conqueror was reallocated by him to be held by the king`s chivalry, and not by the lord of Mesne, as in European continental feudalism. In 1086, all landowners of Salisbury Council swore allegiance to the Crown. In all the force of feudalism, the inhabitants of England were free or not free. The free inhabitants held their lands either by free possession or by a possession that was originally that of an inhabitant not free but linked to a land belonging to a free man.
Free tenure was either military property, also called chivalry tenure, or Socage (including Burgage and Petit Serjeanty) or Frankalmoin, through which ecclesiastical bodies generally held their lands. The non-free inhabitants were called in the Domesday Book served, cotarii or bordarii and later nativi or villani, with the surname applied to both free men and serfs. All were in a more or less dependent state. Free tenure exists today, although, as would later prove to be the case, military property has been reduced to the unimportant and extraordinary mandate of the Grand Serjeanty. Nonfree possessions were represented to some extent by Copyhold in the following centuries until the final abolition in 1925. [4] This book provides an overview of the historical evolution of the Common Law of Landed Property. Works published since the first edition of this text are taken into account, and the treatment of the nineteenth-century period has been expanded. Bina Agarwal argues that land ownership significantly reduces the likelihood of domestic violence against Indian women. [10] Ownership of property elevates women to a higher status within the household and allows for greater equality and bargaining power.