Land Law

Giving a clear, concise introduction to land law, this book looks at the way in which the law regulates our relationship with the land on which we walk, work, and live. Land law is about the connections between people and land, and also the relationships between people, jostling for space and allocating resources. As people change, so do the ways they use and think about land: land law today looks very different from how it did fifty years ago, and in another generation's time it will have changed again.

Elizabeth Cooke introduces the building blocks of land law, namely property rights in land, and explains how they have evolved by a mixture of design and accident. The book examines ownership rights, non-ownership rights, both legal and equitable, and provides analysis of how these different rights can apply to a single piece of land, and how they are managed and enforced. Throughout the book the role of registration is central, and the implications of the Land Registration Act 2002 for English land law are fully explored.

The second edition has been updated to incorporate important developments in the law relating to the family home, and in the interaction of land law with the law of human rights. It also benefits from the author's own contribution to the Law Commission's report on easements, covenants, and profits a prendre. Written in an accessible style, this book is an essential read for all those coming to the subject for the first time.

Elizabeth Cooke is a solicitor; she has been a professor of law at Reading University since 2003. She has published extensively on land law, land registration, and family property law, and is currently serving as a Law Commissioner with responsibility for the Commission's land law and family law projects.