Principles of Land Law (in English)

This podcast, the last in the series, is about mortgages. It explains the essential characteristics of the mortgage and the rights that it confers on the lender (the mortgagee). The podcast explains that equity has intervened to strike down terms in mortgages that are oppressive or unconscionable or that would interfere excessively with the borrower's right to redeem the mortgage. It looks at the main rights that mortgages give lenders and contains a reminder about the importance of registering a mortgage.

This week's podcast is about the enforceability of the covenants contained in a lease. The original landlord and tenant are liable to each other because they have made a contract with each other. The landlord can assign its interest in the land (its reversion) and the tenant assign its lease. This podcast will explain that successors in title of the landlord and the tenant also get the benefit and burden of those lease covenants that relate to land. They are not subject to purely personal covenants given by the original landlord or the original tenant. Sub-tenants, too, can get the benefit and burden of covenants in the headlease. The exception to this is that they are not subject to the burden of positive covenants in the headlease. Finally, the podcast gives a brief reminder of the remedies available for breach of a covenant contained in a lease.

This week's podcast is about land covenants. The most obvious example of a land covenant is the sort of covenant that you find in a Deed of Mutual Covenant governing an apartment block or complex (such as the covenant to pay the management charge or not to keep pets). This podcast looks at the legal mechanisms that are available to make sure that all of the owners are subject to the Deed of Mutual Covenant. The rules that we will look at apply more generally to all land covenants, not only those found in a Deed of Mutual Covenant.

This podcast looks at the law concerning easements. Easements are rights over a parcel of land for the benefit of another nearby parcel of land. Examples include the right to walk or drive over someone else's land to get to and from your own and the right to run gas or water pipes or electrical cables over someone else's land. This podcast will explain the essential legal requirements for the creation of an easement and how they can be brought to an end.

This week's podcast looks at the law on co-ownership. An interest in land is often owned by several people together. For example, a flat might be co-owned by a husband and wife. The members of a business partnership might co-own land used by or for the business. Hong Kong apartment complexes are co-owned by all the flat-owners. Co-ownership can either take the form of a joint tenancy or of a tenancy in common. This podcast explains these forms of co-ownership and the differences between them. It also looks at the process by which a joint tenancy can be turned into a tenancy in common. This is known as severance. Finally, it looks at the rights of co-owners to apply for partition of the co-owned land. Partition involves the legal division of the land into smaller physical areas. The courts can also be asked to order the sale of co-owned land and the division of the proceeds of sale between the co-owners.

This podcast looks at the law on adverse possession. A squatter who takes possession of someone else's land acquires some kind of ownership interest in it. If the squatter stays in possession for long enough then he can defeat a claim for possession by the formal owner of the land. This podcast outlines the law in this area. It explains what is needed for an adverse possession claim to succeed. It considers the idea of possession.

This week's podcast looks at the licence. The bare licence is a simple permission to be on someone else's land. It can be revoked at any time and does not bind other people who have or acquire an interest in the land. The contractual licence, by contrast, might give more extensive rights than the bare licence (as the podcast explains). In some exceptional cases, even third parties may have to respect a licence. The podcast closes by looking at cases where licensees might have a more substantial interest in the land under the doctrine of proprietary estoppel.

This podcast looks at the rules governing the priority enjoyed by different interests in the same physical piece of land. It looks at Hong Kong's system of land registration and the changes that the Land Titles Ordinance will introduce.

This podcast explains the formalities laid down by Hong Kong Land Law for the creation and transfer of interests in land. It explains why formalities are useful and some exceptional cases when transactions can be valid despite a failure to comply with relevant formalities.

This podcast explains the essential characteristics that distinguish the lease from the licence. The lease is both a type of contract and an interest in land and it is not always clear which of these two characteristics is more important. The possible clash between the two is exemplified by considering whether the doctrine of frustration applies to leases and by an explanation of the controversial decision in Bruton v London and Quadrant Housing Trust. The podcast explains how leases are classified and how they are created. It outlines the possible remedies available to landlords for a tenant's breach of covenant.

This podcast explains that Land Law studies the possible legal interests in land. There may be several different interests in the same piece of land at the same time and so Land law has to explain how these interests interact and how conflicts between them are resolved. The podcast explains: 1. fundamental concepts such as the distinction between legal and equitable interests in land; 2. the sources of Hong Kong Land Law; and 3. what is included in the definition of 'land'.

This introductory podcast explains how Land Law will be taught on the CUHK JD / LL.M. programme in 2009 / 2010.