LAND REGISTRATION PROBLEM QUESTION

LAND REGISTRATION PROBLEM QUESTION
Order Description
CASE LAW
ARTICLES
TEXT BOOKS
LEGISLATION

The following coursework titles are provisional and are subject to the full approval of the External Examiner. As such, the nature and focus of the questions are subject to change. An announcement will be made if changes are necessary and/or when full approval is given*
BL 2604 LAND LAW COURSEWORK 2015/16

Three months ago Sir Roger Smythe (‘Sir Roger’) purchased the registered freehold title to Hawkinge Farm, (‘the farm’) for £8 million. The farm consists of an 8 bedroom farmhouse and some 75 acres of agricultural land set in rural Northamptonshire. SirRoger purchased the farm from Farmer Giles.
During his time as registered freehold proprietor of the farm, Farmer Giles entered into certain arrangements with his relatives and neighbours in relation to the farm, viz:-
(i) In 1992 by deed, Farmer Giles gave a neighbouring farmer John the right to park up to 3 tractors on the land of the farm, for a period of 45 years;
(ii) In 2000, in consideration of £5, by a signed written agreement, Farmer Giles gave his sister Betty the right to purchase the farm for £200,000, on one calendar month’s written notice within a period of 20 years;
(iii) In 2013 Farmer Giles gave his brother Albert a written licence (for no consideration) to live in the main bedroom at the farm house for a period of 10 years.
(iv) In 2014 Farmer Giles told his other sister Deidre that ‘she was his favourite sister and that as far as he was concerned the farm was as much hers as his’.
(v) In 2015,by deed he promised another neighbouring farmer Walter, that he would not erect any new buildings on the farm.

Betty has never been to the farm. Last year Albert granted a man called Tony a 3 year written tenancy agreement in relation to the main bedroom.
In January 2015 Deidre refurbished the kitchen and bathroom at the farmhouse and cleared the balance of Farmer Giles’ mortgage of some £40,000 in relation to the farm. Deidre has lived permanently at the farm since January 2015 and was unaware of the sale of the farm to Sir Roger Smythe.
Neither John, Betty, Deidre nor Walter have protected their rights by registration.

Advise Sir Roger as to the extent (if at all), he is bound by the rights of John, Betty, Albert, Deidre, Walter and Tony.

Hand-in Date: Monday 22/02/16
– 1,500 words excluding bibliography.
(Content in footnotes is included in the word count with the exception of citations and references to sources (e.g., cases, statutes, journal articles, books, etc). In other words: if it is not a citation/reference then it’s included in the word count. The revised LLB student handbook will contain further guidance).
Aston Law Assessment Criteria

Here you will find a copy of the Aston Law Assessment Criteria. Every piece of coursework and every exam answer is assessed against the rubrics that you find here. As such, it is important that you read and understand the different levels of performance. It can sometimes be useful for you to assess your own work against the Assessment Criteria and then compare it to the comments given by the person marking the assessment.

Classification Mark RESEARCH
Systematic identification and investigation of appropriate sources. Indicator
1st Outstanding
80%+ Outstanding independent legal research, highly accurate with a sophisticated understanding of the research material. 8
1st Excellent
70-79% Excellent and extensive independent legal research, accurate familiarity with the material, and sound judgments. 7
2:1 Very Good
60-69% Very good legal research, well-informed judgments made of relative value of connected information from a wide range of sources. 6
2:2 Good
50-59% Good legal research skills are evident, accurate, appropriately categorised information from a range of sources. 5
3rd Satisfactory
45-49% Satisfactory legal research, reasonably accurate and appropriately categorized from a range of appropriate resources. 4
Pass Pass
40-44% Adequate legal information has been gathered and documented from readily available sources. 3
Fail Fail
30-39% Legal information presented does not relate sufficiently to task; may be evidence rudimentary research, selected sources may be inappropriate. 2
Fail Bad Fail
0-29% Little or no legal information presented and/ or wholly irrelevant content. 1

Classification Mark SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE
Identification, understanding, application subject knowledge and underlying legal principles. Indicator

1st Outstanding
80%+ An outstanding contribution to the debate at this level. Outstanding assimilation of information, development of a sophisticated argument. 8
1st Excellent
70-79% Excellent subject knowledge, contributes to the subject debate by assimilating legal knowledge into a personal hypothesis (or indicates the beginnings of one). 7