Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and acknowledgments
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- Table of statutory instruments
- 1 Meaning of possession
- 2 Protection of possession
- 3 Possession, title and freehold land
- 4 Leases and licences
- 5 Mortgages and charges
- 6 Equity and trusts
- 7 Birth and death, dissolution and insolvency
- 8 Adverse possession and prescription
- 9 Possession judgments
- 10 Summary and conclusions
- Index
Preface and acknowledgments
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and acknowledgments
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- Table of statutory instruments
- 1 Meaning of possession
- 2 Protection of possession
- 3 Possession, title and freehold land
- 4 Leases and licences
- 5 Mortgages and charges
- 6 Equity and trusts
- 7 Birth and death, dissolution and insolvency
- 8 Adverse possession and prescription
- 9 Possession judgments
- 10 Summary and conclusions
- Index
Summary
At University College London, undergraduate lawyers are traditionally told the story of its first two Professors. John Austin, Professor of Jurisprudence and the Law of Nations, taught dry legal philosophy to an empty room. But, Andrew Amos, Professor of English Law, knew his market. His first lecture was on the rules of accretion to and diluvian from land, and his lectures were packed.
He knew then, as every property litigator knows now, that few things evoke more passion and litigation than possession of land. Every week, in county courts up and down the country, there are people spending £50,000 or more, fighting domestic boundary disputes, typically over six inches of residential back-garden, and counting the money well spent if the judge decides that the boundary is where they say it should be.
But English law has never produced a proper theory of possession.
What exactly is it to be ‘in’ possession of land? What is it that is possessed? What is its relationship with a freehold or leasehold title? How is it acquired, and how is it lost? How does the common law protect it? What difference does equity make? What happens when a mortgagee takes possession, or if the possessor becomes insolvent or ceases to exist? What exactly is the effect of a possession order? In short, how does it all fit together?
This book is an attempt to answer that question.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Possession of Land , pp. ix - xPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006