Property Law

Coursework question

“Overriding interests are an obstacle to achieving a conclusive register, which is one of the principal objectives of the Land Registration Act 2002.”

(Megarry and Wade, The Law of Real Property)

• Explain the nature of the rights recognised as overriding interests.

• Discuss whether you agree that these rights should enjoy a special status in the registration process.

Overriding interests are interests that are not protected in the register but are, nonetheless, binding on any person who acquires on interest In registered land, whether on first registration or where they has been a registrable disposition of a registered estate that has been completed by registration.[1] The main objective of the bill is to create a faster and simpler system in which it is possible to investigate title to land. However, a significant difficulty with achieving this goal is the existence of a category of interests that are not registered, the category of unregistered interests are usually known as overriding interests as they override and bind any person that acquires an interest in the land.

The nature of overriding interests is to protect the owner of the property. Generally overriding interests are no different in their nature from any other unregistered interest in relation to registered land. The fact that they bind any person interested in registered land makes them such an unsatisfactory feature of the system of registered conveyancing, because such rights subsist and operate outside the register, they are an inevitable source of tension within the land registration system[2], which is why it shall be discussed that overriding interest should hold a special status in the registration process to amend this problem and allow the system to work without disruption of interests other than on the register.

Overriding interests regarding first registration are found under schedule 1 of the Land registration act 2002. The first paragraph is...