When a client buys land, sells it, or claims a right over someone else's, one question runs through everything: is the interest legal or equitable, and will it bind a new owner? A solicitor advising a purchaser must spot which interests survive the sale and which fall away; a solicitor protecting a client's right must know how to make it stick. This lesson gives you the framework to answer both.
We start with how interests are classified and build towards the priority rules that decide who wins when interests collide.
What this lesson covers:
- Legal v Equitable Interests and Classification — how the two types differ, the hierarchy of rights, and the statutory gatekeeper that fixes what can be legal.
- Equitable Interests and Section 1(3) — the catch-all that pushes everything else into equity, and the main equitable interests you will meet.
- Formalities for Creating Interests — deeds, the short-lease exception, and the written-contract route to an equitable interest.
- Trusts, Equitable Interests and Registration of Title — writing requirements for trusts, the carve-out for resulting and constructive trusts, and registration gaps.
- Priority in Unregistered Land — the doctrine of notice, equity's darling, and registrable land charges.
- Priority in Registered Land — how the register replaces notice, and the basic priority rules.
- Overriding Interests under Schedule 3 — the rights that bind a buyer without appearing on the register.
- Overreaching and Proprietary Estoppel — sweeping beneficial interests onto the purchase money, and how estoppel creates a right.