Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Planning permission
Planning permission is generally required for most new building projects,
significant alterations to commercial premises or changing the type of business
carried out at your commercial premises. Internal alterations and small external
changes (such as putting up a low fence) do not normally require planning
consent, though there are more stringent rules for listed buildings and in
conservation areas.
If you are unsure whether you need planning approval, you can ask your local
authority for informal planning advice. You can also apply formally for a lawful
development certificate, confirming that planning permission is not required for a
proposed use or development.
To apply for planning permission, you will have to send a planning application
form and fee to your local authority. The planning application will be considered
against local planning policies and any objections received from the public. You
will normally want to take professional advice to help prepare plans that are likely
to be acceptable and to negotiate the planning process.
Building regulations
Under the building regulations, you normally require building consent for major
building works: for example, new construction, significant extensions or structural
alterations. Changing the use of premises can also require building control
approval: for example, to ensure that the building meets relevant fire safety
requirements.
The ‘building regs’ also apply to some specific types of work such as the
installation of a gas boiler. In these cases, building consent is not required
provided that the work is carried out by an appropriate registered professional
(such as a Gas Safe engineer).
You can get informal advice from your local authority on whether building control
approval is required for your development. If it is, you make an application
together with a fee based on the value of the works being carried out. The local
authority can approve, reject or impose conditions on the project. In addition, the
building works will be regularly visited by an inspector to ensure that they are
properly carried out.
As with planning permission, going ahead without building approval can be very
risky. You could face an order to demolish unsafe alterations or experience
problems selling the premises, for example.
There are two types of property: real property and Personal Property. Most
of the legal concepts and rules associated with both types of property are
derived from English Common Law. Modern law has incorporated many of
these concepts and rules into statutes, which define the types and rights of
ownership in real and personal property.
Real property is land and ordinarily anything erected on, growing on, or
affixed to it, including buildings and crops. The term is also used to declare
any rights that issue from the ownership of land. The terms real
estate and real property generally refer to land. The term land, in its
general usage, includes not only the face of the earth but everything of a
permanent nature over or under it, including minerals, oil, and gases. In
modern usage, the word premises has come to mean the land itself or the
land with all structures attached. Residential buildings and yards are
commonly referred to as premises.
Personal Property
Personal property can be divided into two major categories: tangible and
intangible. Tangible property includes such items as animals, merchandise,
and jewelry. Intangible property includes such rights as stock, bonds,
patents, and copyrights.
Ordinarily when articles are found by an employee during and within the
scope of her employment, they are awarded to the employer rather than to
the employee who found them.
Treasure trove is any gold or silver in coin, plate, or bullion that is hidden by
an unknown owner in the earth or other private place for an extended
period. The property is not considered treasure trove unless the identity of
the owner cannot be determined. Under early common law, the finder of a
treasure trove took title to it against everyone but the true owner. The U.S.
law governing treasure trove has been merged, for the most part, into the
law governing lost property. In the absence of a contrary statutory
provision, the title to treasure trove belongs to the finder against all others
with the exception of the true owner. If there is a controversy as to
ownership between the true owner and the state, the owner is entitled to
the treasure trove.
A bona fide purchaser is an individual who has bought property for value
with no notice of any defects in the seller's title. If a seller indicates to a
buyer that she has ownership or the authority to sell a particular item, the
seller is estopped (prevented) from denying such representations if the
buyer resells the property to a bona fide purchaser for value without notice
of the true owner's rights. At common law, such an Estoppel did not apply
when an owner brought an item for services or repairs to a dealer and the
dealer wrongfully sold the chattel. The bona fide purchaser, however, was
subsequently protected under such circumstances by the Uniform
Commercial Code, which was adopted in all states.
Real Property
In the United States, every state has exclusive jurisdiction over the land
within its borders. Each state has the power to determine the form and
effect of a transfer of real property within its borders. Modern statutes have
eliminated much traditional concern over the proper conveyancing of real
property. In modern real estate law, real property can be conveyed by a
deed, with the intention of the person conveying the property, the grantor,
that the deed take effect as a conveyance. The deed must be recorded to
give notice as to who legally holds title to the property.
A life tenant can use the land, take any crops from it, and dispose of his
interest to another person. The life tenant cannot do anything that would
injure the property or cause waste. Waste is the harmful or destructive use
of real property by an individual who is in rightful possession of the
property.
The life tenant has the right to exclusive possession subject to the rights of
the grantor to enter the property to determine whether waste has been
committed, collect any rent that is due, or make any necessary repairs.
A life estate is alienable; therefore, the life tenant can convey her estate.
The grantee of a life tenant would thereby be given an estate pur autre
vie because the death of the life tenant would extinguish the grantee's
interest in the land. The life tenant is unable, however, to convey an estate
that is greater than her own.
A tenancy for years must be of a definite duration; that is, it must have a
definite beginning and a definite ending. The most common example of a
tenancy for years is the arrangement existing between a landlord and a
tenant, where property is leased or rented for a specific amount of time.
A tenancy from year to year, also called tenancy from period to period, is of
indefinite duration. The lease period is for a definite term that is renewed
automatically if neither party signifies an intention to terminate the tenancy.
This is a common arrangement for leasing business office space or for
renting a house or apartment.
Future Interests Future interests in real property are property rights that
are not yet in existence. The privilege of possession will come into being at
a designated future time. There are five basic kinds of future interests: the
reversion, possibility of reverter, right of reentry for condition broken (also
known as power of termination), executory interest, and remainder.
Easements are rights to use the property of another for particular purposes.
A common type of easement in current use is the affirmative grant to a
telephone company to run its line across the property of a private
landowner. Easements also are used for public objectives, such as to
preserve open space and conserve land. For example, an easement might
preclude someone from building on a parcel of land, which would leave
such property open, thereby preserving a park for the public.
Possession
An owner of real property is not entitled to possess all space above her
land outward to infinity but has the right to be free from those intrusions into
the space that would interfere with the reasonable occupation and Quiet
Enjoyment of the surface. A landowner, therefore, owns as much of the
space above the ground as he can possess or use in connection with the
land.
Possession of property adverse to the rights of the true owner results in
acquisition of title by the possessor under the doctrine ofAdverse
Possession. The doctrine is based upon statutes that limit the time for
recovery of property, thereby operating as a bar to one's right to recover
property that has been held adversely by another for a specified length of
time. For example, if A builds a fence two feet inside B's property and B
fails to take legal action to have the fence removed during the specified
time period, A will acquire title to the property that the fence encroached.
Governments have the right to acquire privately owned land through the
exercise of the power of Eminent Domain. Eminent domain is the right or
power of a unit of government or a designated private individual to take
private property for public use following the payment of a fair amount of
money to the owner of the property. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution states, "nor shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation." The theory behind eminent domain is that the
local government can exercise such power to promote the General
Welfare in areas of public concern, such as health, safety, or morals.
Government may control how real property is used. Zoning is the regulation
and restriction of real property by a local government. The most common
form of land use regulation, zoning involves the division of territory based
on the character of land and structures and their fitness for particular uses.
Municipalities use zoning to control and direct the development of property
within their borders, according to present and potential uses of the
property. Consideration is given to the conservation of property value and
the most appropriate use of the land.
Property Law
Agreement to Sell