Answer 4 of the following questions.

1. ‘Not only is it difficult to know whether a joint tenancy or tenancy in common

has been created when land is acquired by co-owners, but it is also often unclear
whether severance has subsequently occurred. In fact, it would only improve the
legal position if it was possible for there to be only one form of co-ownership.’
Discuss.

2. Mike is the registered proprietor of Button Manor, a rundown historic country

house. In 2010 he invested his life savings to buy the property. As they were
insufficient to meet the full sale price, Mike’s father, Julian, contributed the
shortfall. Alison moved into Button Manor in 2013 when she married Mike.

In 2017 Julian’s wife died. He sold their bungalow and accepted Mike and
Alison’s invitation to come and live with them in Button Manor. In 2019 Julian
went off to New Zealand to visit his daughter, Kitty, after she gave birth to his
first grandchild, Larry. Julian decided to extend his stay so that he could spend
time watching Larry grow up.

By 2020 Mike was having great difficulty in meeting the running and repair costs
of Button Manor. He therefore reluctantly decided to put the property on the
market. Robin has been considering buying Button Manor to add to his chain of
boutique hotels. He visited the property several times. On the first occasion he
bumped into Pat, the leader of the local Boy Scout troop. Pat explained that he
was using a shortcut across the grounds of Button Manor to reach his nearby
house. On his second visit, Bunty, who lives in a neighbouring house, presented
him with a document containing a covenant that appears to say Button Manor
must only be used as a private residence.

Advise Robin about the legal position should he go ahead and purchase Button
Manor.

3. ‘It is important for the law to set tightly defined boundaries both as to what
amounts to an easement and also about when an easement can be impliedly
created. It is questionable how far the law fulfils these requirements.’
Discuss.

4. Charlotte bought the registered title to a small cottage in May 2004. The house
used to be the gatekeeper’s lodge for a country property, Branwell House. As the
cottage did not have its own garden, Charlotte agreed with her neighbour, Anne,
to make use of a neglected secret garden at the rear of Branwell House. Anne is
the registered proprietor of Branwell House. Charlotte used the secret garden to
grow vegetables. When Charlotte’s licence of the secret garden expired in
December 2011, Anne was not prepared to renew it because she had plans to
replace the garden with a maze. Shortly afterwards Anne, who was not in the
best of health, boarded up Branwell House and moved to live in her cottage in
Yorkshire. In Anne’s absence, Charlotte continued to use the secret garden to
 grow vegetables. To deter the birds, she installed a sonic device to scare them
and erected a Perspex roof to protect the soft fruit.

In March 2021 Anne sold Branwell House to Emily. A few weeks after she moved
in, Emily discovered that Charlotte was using the secret garden to grow
vegetables. Emily has written to Charlotte insisting she vacate the garden
immediately. A few days later, Charlotte received a letter from the legal
department of Wuthering Council. The letter instructed Charlotte to remove the
picket fence at the front of her cottage so that Wuthering Council can make use of
the land inside the fence to build a pavement. It claimed that a previous owner of
the cottage must have wrongly enclosed the strip of land, which Wuthering
Council’s plans show rightly belongs to it.
Advise Charlotte.

5. In 2008 Brian, a psychologist, started a relationship with Clare, who was

studying at college to become a social worker. A year later, they decided to live
together. Brian found a house for them to live in. As Clare was still training, they
decided that Brian would become sole registered proprietor of the house. He also
paid the deposit and granted the Community Bank a mortgage over the house.

When Clare qualified as a social worker in 2010, she immediately found a job
with her local council’s social services department specialising in caring for
children’s welfare. The couple then opened a joint bank account into which they
each paid their monthly earnings, and from which they paid the monthly
mortgage payments to the Community Bank and all the other household and
living expenses.

In May 2014 Clare gave birth to Thomas. At Brian’s suggestion, she turned down
the offer of promotion at work before resigning from her job at the council to
take care of the family. They immediately closed their joint bank account, after
which Brian met the monthly mortgage payments and other household bills from
his own bank account.

In 2015 Brian and Clare had a second child, Megan. By this time, Brian began to
work long hours, achieved greater financial security and gained celebrity status
as the resident psychologist on the TV programme Dating Stars. His contract
regularly took him abroad for filming. As a result, Clare spent more time looking
after Thomas and Megan, and carrying out minor repairs, and decorating the
house.

In 2017 Brian used an advance he received from a book publishing deal to

discharge the mortgage with the Community Bank. Later that year, Clare
inherited £20,000 from her aunt. She used the money to build a playroom in the
garden for the children, which she designed and fitted out herself.

Last week, Brian told Clare that he was leaving her and the children to set up
home with Nahlia, the director of Dating Stars. He therefore wants them to sell
the house.
 Advise Clare about what, if any, interest she may be able to claim in the house by
way of trust law principles.

6. Elle, a dressmaker, owns the registered freehold title of Nuptials, a bridal gown
shop, where she also lives. In 2019 The Harmony Bank refused to lend her the
money she needed to renovate her shop. She therefore approached one of her
suppliers, Fancy Fabrics. It agreed to lend Elle the money, repayable over 25
years, and secured by way of a legal mortgage over the registered title to
Nuptials.
The mortgage deed contained the following terms:

i. Elle must buy all her supplies of satin from Fancy Fabrics at the prevailing
market price;
ii. Fancy Fabrics has the right of first refusal if Elle ever decides to sell Nuptials;
iii. Elle’s monthly interest rate will be variable at Fancy Fabrics’ absolute
discretion but it will never be less than 7 per cent above the standard variable
rate charged by The Harmony Bank.

Almost two months ago Elle’s business ran into financial difficulty. When she
failed to make one of her monthly loan repayments, Fancy Fabrics wrote to
notify Elle that it will need to protect its position by increasing the variable
interest rate by 1 per cent for each of the next six months. Fancy Fabrics’ letter
also mentioned that it has evidence that Elle has been buying satin from an
overseas supplier. Elle is about to miss a second month’s loan repayment. Fancy
Fabrics is considering taking possession of Nuptials so that it can arrange a quick
sale at auction. Elle has just had an email enquiry from Tanya, owner of Forever
Weddings, a chain of bridal wear shops, asking if Elle might consider selling
Nuptials. Elle is, therefore, keen to stay in possession of Nuptials so that she can
arrange her own sale because she believes doing so will maximise her chances of
realising the best sale price.

Advise Elle about:

a) the validity of the terms of the mortgage; and
b) the rival proposals over possession and sale.

7. To what extent do you think Lord Templeman’s speech in Street v Mountford

[1985] UKHL 4 and subsequent case law help to clarify the distinction between a
lease and a licence?

8. Imran is considering buying The Wreck, a piece of land located in the centre of
Weatherfield. The Wreck is a disused playground. Audrey is currently its
registered proprietor. She purchased it from Rita in 1985, who at that time was
also the registered freehold owner of the adjoining newsagents’ shop, The Kabin.
When Rita died in 2010 she left The Kabin in her will to Mavis. When Mavis
retired in 2017 she sold The Kabin to Norris.

Imran has discovered a deed dating from 1985 when Audrey acquired The
Wreck. It contained two covenants ‘for the benefit of the neighbouring premises’.
The covenants are:
Clause (a) To keep The Wreck free from buildings and other structures.
Clause (b) Not to let the line of shrubs planted between The Wreck and The
Kabin exceed two metres in height.

The deed contained a further provision, Clause (c). It stated that the covenants in
Clauses (a) and (b) ‘will not benefit any subsequent purchaser of the benefited
land unless the benefit is expressly assigned to them’.

Imran is planning on building a house on The Wreck. To protect its privacy, he

intends letting the shrubs between The Wreck and The Kabin grow to at least
three metres in height. Imran, therefore, wants to know, if he were to acquire
The Wreck, whether the covenants in Clauses (a) and (b) would be binding on
him.

Advise Imran.