Rent regulation in England and Wales is the part of English land law that creates rights and obligations for tenants and landlords.
41-460: The main areas of regulation concern: In general, people renting homes or real property may agree with a landlord to any contract terms they like, but some rights and duties are made compulsory. Historically, the United Kingdom sought to ensure fair rents, prevent evictions without a fair reason, and placed obligations on landlords to properly maintain premises. Such regulation seeks to redress
82-401: A JTWROS deed in equal shares, so each tenant must own an equal share of the property regardless of any contribution to the purchase price. If the property is someday sold or subdivided, the proceeds must be distributed equally with no credits given for any excess that any one co-owner may have contributed to purchase the property. The death of a co-owner of tenants in common (TIC) deed will have
123-496: A farm owner in New Jersey employed several migrant workers who lived on the property during the harvest season. The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the owner was not entitled to exclude social services and legal counsel from entering the property to provide service to the migrant workers residing on the property. Historically, a landowner had the absolute right to use his property in any way he wished, as long as he did not harm
164-455: A heritable portion of the estate in proportion to his ownership interest which is presumed to be equal among all tenants unless otherwise stated in the transfer deed . However, if TIC property is sold or subdivided, in some States, Provinces, etc., a credit can be automatically made for unequal contributions to the purchase price (unlike a partition of a JTWROS deed). Real property may be owned jointly with several tenants, through devices such as
205-400: A joint tenancy with rights of survivorship deed or JTWROS, the death of one tenant means that the surviving tenants become the sole owners of the estate. Nothing passes to the heirs of the deceased tenant. In some jurisdictions, the specific words "with right of survivorship" must be used, or the tenancy will assume to be tenants in common without rights of survivorship. The co-owners always take
246-416: A lawsuit that seeks official recognition of a property right is known as an actio in rem (action in relation to a thing). This contrasts with an actio in personam in which the plaintiff seeks relief for the actions of a particular person. The distinction can be subtle; the medieval action of novel disseisin , although aimed at repossessing land, was not an actio in rem because it was brought against
287-499: A new mansion. In one case, a homeowner directed the executor of her estate to destroy her historic home after her death. The Missouri court held that it would violate public policy to allow the destruction of the home. In the law of almost every country, the state is the ultimate owner of all land under its jurisdiction, because it is the sovereign , or supreme lawmaking authority. Physical and corporate persons do not have allodial title ; they do not own land but only enjoy estates in
328-512: A series of documents) and does away with the conveyancing costs of such searches. The State guarantees title and is usually supported by a compensation scheme for those who lose their title due to the State's operation. It has been in practice in all Australian states and New Zealand since between 1858 and 1875, has more recently been extended to strata title , and has been adopted by many states, provinces and countries, and in modified form in 9 states of
369-421: A specific person. This technical distinction is important to determine where to file a lawsuit and how to serve a defendant . In personam means that a judgment can be enforceable against the person wherever he/she is. On the other hand, if the lawsuit is to determine title to property ( in rem ) then the action must be filed where the property exists and is only enforceable there. This legal article about
410-402: A verifiable and legal property description . Such a description usually makes use of natural or man-made boundaries such as seacoasts, rivers, streams, the crests of ridges, lakeshores , highways, roads, and railroad tracks or purpose-built markers such as cairns , surveyor 's posts, iron pins or pipes, concrete monuments, fences , official government surveying marks (such as ones affixed by
451-441: Is created from previously agricultural land. Usually urban land is more valuable than agricultural land; this creates the incentive to convert non-urban land to urban land. The value of the land is directly associated with its use. Zoning regulations regarding multi-story development are modified to intensify the use of cities, instead of occupying more physical space. To be of any value, a claim to any property must be accompanied by
SECTION 10
#1733092249071492-405: Is mitigated by more frequent and affordable maintenance and improvements. Starting in the 1960s, as part of the emerging field of law and economics , economists and legal scholars began to study the property rights enjoyed by tenants under the various estates and the economic benefits and costs of the various estates. This resulted in a much-improved understanding of the: For an introduction to
533-469: Is not accepted in continental civil law, but can be understood in the context of legal developments during Bracton's lifetime. In thirteenth-century England the courts of canon law claimed broad authority to interpret wills , but inheritance of land remained a matter for the royal courts. Laws governing the conveyance of land and that of movable personal property then developed along different paths. In modern legal systems derived from English common law,
574-498: Is not real property. In countries with personal ownership of real property, civil law protects the status of real property in real-estate markets, where estate agents work in the market of buying and selling real estate. Scottish civil law calls real property heritable property , and in French-based law, it is called immobilier ("immovable property"). The word "real" derives from Latin res ("thing"). Under European civil law,
615-434: Is transferred can be regulated to avoid fraud, uncertainty, or other legal problems. An owner has a right to exclude any other person from his property. This has been described by the U.S. Supreme Court "as one of the most essential sticks" in the bundle. In general, the owner of a tract of land may prevent anyone else from entering upon it. This right is enforced by the tort of trespass . Some exceptions apply: for example,
656-461: Is usually determined by the language of the deed , lease , bill of sale , will , land grant , etc., through which the estate was acquired. Estates are distinguished by the varying property rights that vest in each and determine the duration and transferability of the various estates. A party enjoying an estate is called a "tenant". Some important types of estates in the land include: A tenant enjoying an undivided estate in some property after
697-655: The National Geodetic Survey ), and so forth. In many cases, a description refers to one or more lots on a plat , a map of property boundaries kept in public records. These legal descriptions are usually described in two different ways – metes and bounds , and lot and block . A third way is the Public Land Survey System , as used in the United States. The law recognizes different sorts of interests called estates , in real property. The type of estate
738-426: The civil law distinguishes between "movable" and "immovable" property. In English law, real property is not confined to the ownership of property and the buildings sited thereon – often referred to as "land". Real property also includes many legal relationships between individuals or owners of the land that are purely conceptual. One such relationship is the easement , where the owner of one property has
779-788: The condominium , housing cooperative , and building cooperative . Property consists of what has been referred to as a "bundle of rights" or a "bundle of sticks." The most important "sticks" in the bundle are: the right to transfer, the right to exclude, the right to use, and the right to destroy. Also called alienability , the right to transfer means that the owner may freely transfer or alienate his property to anyone. The scope of this right may be limited for public policy reasons; who can transfer, what can be transferred, and how property may be transferred may be regulated. For example, an insane person may neither transfer nor obtain real property; certain types of property may not be transferred at all, while some can be given away but not sold; how property
820-604: The inequality of bargaining power between landlords and tenants in a market where there is unlimited freedom of contract . Most rights for tenants were abolished by the Housing Act 1980 (c. 51) and in subsequent legislation through the 1980s. The remaining legislation is found in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( 2 & 3 Eliz. 2 . c. 56), which gives rights to business tenants, and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (c. 70) which gives some rights, although fewer, to people renting for
861-413: The manor . In the early common law, these are all classified as real property, as they would have been protected by real actions . Each U.S. State except Louisiana has its own laws governing real property and the estates therein, grounded in the common law . In Arizona , real property is generally defined as land and the things permanently attached to the land. Things that are permanently attached to
SECTION 20
#1733092249071902-508: The property of a person. For a structure (also called an improvement or fixture ) to be considered part of the real property, it must be integrated with or affixed to the land. This includes crops, buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, and roads. The term is historic, arising from the now-discontinued form of action , which distinguished between real property disputes and personal property disputes. Personal property, or personalty, was, and continues to be, all property that
943-611: The US. In the United Kingdom, the Crown is held to be the ultimate owner of all real property in the realm. This fact is material when, for example, the property has been disclaimed by its erstwhile owner, in which case the law of escheat applies. In some other jurisdictions (not including the United States), real property is held absolutely . English law has retained the common law distinction between real property and personal property, whereas
984-484: The advent of industrialization, important new uses for land emerged as sites for factories, warehouses, offices, and urban agglomerations. The value of the real property, taking the form of man-made structures and machinery, generally decreases relative to the value of the land alone. Where industrial, agricultural, and commercial property values depreciate as a result of contamination, extraction, and expected wear and tear, respectively, residential property value depreciation
1025-501: The alleged dispossessor. Henry de Bracton 's Treatise on the Laws and Customs of England is credited with giving "real property" its particular meaning in English law. After discussing the distinction in civil law, Bracton proposed that actions for movable property were inherently actions for relief, and that therefore an actio in rem could be brought only upon immovable property. This view
1066-445: The area develops revolving around such natural resources, these developments become components to look for when determining land use and real property values. The surrounding development and proximity, such as markets and transportation routes, will also determine the value of the real property. Although the overall amount of land (in terms of its surface area) is fixed, the supply of specifically urban land may vary. Sometimes urban land
1107-456: The case is against a specific individual, that person must be served with a summons and complaint (in England & Wales known as Particulars of Claim (CPR 1999)) to give the court jurisdiction to try the case, and the judgment applies to that person and is called an "in personam judgment". In personam is distinguished from in rem , which applies to property or "all the world" instead of
1148-404: The classification of property as real or personal may vary somewhat according to jurisdiction or, even within jurisdictions, according to purpose, as in defining whether and how the property may be taxed. Houseboats , for example, occupy a gray area between personal and real property, and may be treated as either according to jurisdiction or circumstance. Bethell (1998) contains much information on
1189-403: The economic analysis of property law, see Shavell (2004), and Cooter and Ulen (2003). For a collection of related scholarly articles, see Epstein (2007). Ellickson (1993) broadens the economic analysis of real property with a variety of facts drawn from history and ethnography . In personam In personam is a Latin phrase meaning "against a particular person". In a lawsuit in which
1230-416: The historical evolution of real property and property rights. Real property is immobile. Owners cannot move their land to a better location, such as another city, for sale. Thus the fixed location of a parcel of land directly affects, and is a major determinant of, its value. However, products of the land, such as minerals and crops, can be transported. Changes that take place nearby will directly affect
1271-456: The land, which also can be referred to as improvements , include homes, garages, and buildings. Manufactured homes can obtain an affidavit of affixture. Land use, land valuation, and the determination of the incomes of landowners are among the oldest questions in economic theory. Land is an essential input ( a factor of production ) for agriculture, and agriculture is by far the most important economic activity in pre-industrial societies. With
Rent regulation in England and Wales - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-473: The land. In many countries, the Torrens title system of real estate ownership is managed and guaranteed by the government and replaces cumbersome tracing of ownership. The Torrens title system operates on the principle of "title by registration" (i.e. the indefeasibility of a registered interest) rather than "registration of title". The system does away with the need for a chain of title (i.e. tracing title through
1353-403: The licence to gather them; and must give up to the landlord a portion of what his labour either collects or produces. This portion, or, what comes to the same thing, the price of this portion, constitutes the rent of land ...." Before the 20th century, and during the industrial revolution, the regulation of the rental property relationship was largely left to the market. The first major regulation
1394-473: The purpose of a home. "As soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its natural produce. The wood of the forest, the grass of the field, and all the natural fruits of the earth, which, when land was in common, cost the labourer only the trouble of gathering them, come, even to him, to have an additional price fixed upon them. He must then pay for
1435-461: The real property's value. Real property is vulnerable to externalities due to its immobile nature. External factors outside of the real property will affect the value of the real property, for example, the noises that neighboring people and construction sites produce. A location of desired resources will draw attention to the location. Natural locational attractions include water supply, climate, soil fertility, water frontage, and mineral deposits. As
1476-401: The right to pass over a neighboring property. Another is the various "incorporeal hereditaments", such as profits-à-Prendre , where an individual may have the right to take crops from land that is part of another's estate. English law retains several forms of property that are largely unknown in other common law jurisdictions such as the advowson , chancel repair liability and lordships of
1517-472: The rights of others. This concept is embodied in the Latin maxim sic utere tuo ut alienum non-laedas , which broadly translates to: use your own property in a manner that does not injure another person's property. As a general rule, a landowner is entitled to use their land as they see fit. The scope of this right is limited in some aspects. For example, an owner may not build a "spite fence" that substantially affects
1558-414: The termination of some estate of limited term is said to have a "future interest". Two important types of future interests are: Estates may be held jointly as joint tenants with rights of survivorship or as tenants in common . The difference between these two types of joint ownership of an estate in land is basically the inheritability of the estate and the shares of interest that each tenant owns. In
1599-488: The use of the neighbor's land (e.g. a hotel owner built a wall 85 ft (26 metres) long and 18 ft (5.5 metres) high that blocked the windows of a neighboring hotel owner). It is inevitable that most property will eventually be destroyed. A termite-infested house that has outlived its useful life may be demolished to build a new one. However, the scope of this right can be limited. For example, most jurisdictions may not allow an owner to destroy something of substantial value, like
1640-555: Was introduced by the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act 1915 ( 5 & 6 Geo. 5 . c. 97), largely as a consequence of rent strikes in Glasgow. Security of tenure exists for business tenancies under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( 2 & 3 Eliz. 2 . c. 56). It was abolished for most residential properties by the Housing Act 1988 (c. 50). However, it remains for some people who live in council houses . The Rent Act 1977 (c. 42)
1681-415: Was the last piece of legislation in England and Wales to place limits on how much landlords could raise prices for residential homes. It was substantially repealed by the Housing Act 1988 (c. 50). Real property In English common law , real property , real estate , immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty , refers to parcels of land and any associated structures which are