What land law is | Lanbuk on the Law of Land

In simple terms

Land law is the law of . It is one part of the wider law of property. The old division between land and movable things still matters, especially when a will gives 'my real property' to one person and 'my personal property' to another.

English law, and the law received in Sierra Leone, sorts property into realty and .

Realty is land and what is fixed to it: the soil, buildings, trees. It is, in the old phrase, immovable. It includes both , the physical land you can see and touch, and incorporeal hereditaments, rights over land that you cannot pick up, such as an easement or a profit.

Personalty is everything else. Cars, furniture, debts, copyright, the of a business. A chose in possession is a physical thing you can hold. A chose in action is a right you can enforce only by going to court, such as a debt.

The word "real" does not mean genuine. It comes from res, a thing. A real action was one in which the court could order the land itself to be given back. A personal action gave damages, not the thing. Land was unique, and status depended on it, so the land had to be recovered. A table could be replaced with money.

Most of land law is about rights that would have been protected by a real action. Two important interests were not. A lease was first treated as a contract. The tenant who was turned out got damages, not the land. By the time the tenant could recover the land, the lease had already been classed as personalty. It is still called a . A under a for sale is treated, by the , as having an interest in money, so in personalty.

Blackstone put the physical point simply. Corporeal hereditaments affect the senses. Incorporeal ones exist in the mind: a rent, a right of way, an advowson. Austin said the same thing in different words. The corporeal hereditament is the thing. The incorporeal hereditament is the right.

So if a will says "all my real property to Alfred, all my personal property to Bernard", Alfred takes the freehold. The lease, and the furniture, go to Bernard. That is why the old labels are still worth knowing.

Words and Latin in this note

Equitable conversion: Treating land that must be sold as money, and money that must be spent on land as land, because equity regards as done what ought to be done. Open the note.
Chattel real: A lease. It is an interest in land, but it was classed as personalty because, for a long time, the tenant who was turned out got damages rather than the land.
Hereditament: A right that can be inherited. A corporeal hereditament is the physical land. An incorporeal one is a right over land you cannot pick up, such as an easement.
Beneficiary: A person entitled to the benefit of trust property in equity, who can make the trustees carry out the trust. Open the note.
Personalty: Property other than freehold land. Money, goods, and, for historical reasons, a lease, which is a chattel real.
Chattel: A moveable thing. If it is not annexed to the land so as to become a fixture, it does not pass with the land. Open the note.
Realty: Land, and what is fixed to it. The name comes from the old real action, which gave the land itself back, not merely damages.
Trust: An arrangement in which a trustee holds property at law but must use it for beneficiaries, or for a charitable purpose. The beneficiaries have the equitable interest. Open the note.

Memory map

What land law is

Key points

Realty is land and what is fixed to it
A corporeal hereditament is the land itself
A gift of 'real property' does not pass a lease

Key terms

Realty
Personalty
Chattel real
Hereditament

Take-home points

Realty is land and what is fixed to it. Personalty is everything else, including leases.
A corporeal hereditament is the land itself. An incorporeal hereditament is a right over land.
A gift of 'real property' does not pass a lease. A lease is a chattel real.

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