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Land Law PSQ Help

Hi all,

I'm looking for a bit of guidance regarding my land law PSQ, if anyone could help that would be amazing!

In 2013 James became the registered proprietor of Vauxhall Court, a large Victorian mansion located in Tettenhall. James paid £500,000 for the property. James’s fiancée, Fiona, also contributed a sum of £40,000 to the purchase and she lived with James in Vauxhall Court. Although Fiona was not registered on the legal title, James fully acknowledged that she had an equitable share in Vauxhall Court.

In 2015, James sought to improve his cash position by granting by deed a 6 year lease of an outbuilding to a local mechanic, Mr Carr. Moreover, James lets the self-contained part of Vauxhall Court to Nicolas, a builder, who is employed by James and who is to work full time on repairing and renovating the premises. Nicolas pays no rent, but each week £100 is deducted from his wages.

In December 2019, Fiona went on an extended holiday to Portugal to stay with her cousin, Daphne. Whilst she was away, James decided to sell Vauxhall Court to Peter to whom he owed a substantial sum of money. Peter did not bother to obtain any legal advice in connection with the sale.

Peter has just discovered that Nicolas is occupying part of the property and that Mr Carr is claiming a tenancy of the outbuilding. He has also discovered that Farooq, the owner of the house adjacent to Vauxhall Court, is using a pathway across Vauxhall Court and Farooq has informed him that from local knowledge, Farooq is aware that his predecessor had been doing so for many years before him. The pathway is particularly valuable to Farooq as it means that he can walk to the local post office in 10 minutes, whereas if he had to walk to the main road, it would take him 40 minutes.

1. Critically explain whether, if at all, Peter is bound by Fiona’s rights and how would your answer differ if the title to the property had been unregistered?

2. Critically explain whether Mr Carr’s and Nicolas’s agreements are likely to constitute leases

3. Critically explain whether Farooq is entitled to use the pathway across Vauxhall Court

Any help would be so appreciated, I've been trying to understand this for weeks now and I'm getting very little guidance from my uni

Thank you

Reply 1

Bitesizelaw

If it's an assignment question, your tutors are usually not allowed to provide assistance for individual students (other than very general advice) as that would be unfair for other students.

Start by looking at your lecture notes and re-read the reading you were set for seminars - this will usually be from the 'recommended' (or 'core') textbook on your module reading list. If you don't like the recommended text - try another one. There are lots of very good textbooks available on-line which you should find through your uni's library. Your tutor will probably be able to suggest an alternative book (this is something they will be able to help you with) or look to see if there are alternative on the module reading list.

You should have covered the law relating to the issues raised at some point in your studies. You were probably given the opportunity to discuss similar issues in seminars so go back and look at your seminar notes.

If you are still struggling after trying this; follow the advice on how to use this forum effectively (there is a link below) and you are much more likely to get some responses.

Good luck with it

Amanda Grant
BiteSizeLaw

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