Unintended Consequences of a Century of Manorial Land Law Reform

Since 1925, property laws in England and Wales have had an impact on the type of property known as lordships or manors, or reputed lordships or manors. At first, back in 1925, what would be conveyed as part and parcel of a manor was defined by statute. More recently, the Land Registration Act 2002 prohibited the registration of lordships or manors that were not already registered at HM Land Registry, and removed them from their appurtenant overriding interests if these were not registered by an appointed date or before conveyance of the affected property. The result of these changes is that transfers of this kind of property, unless already registered, takes place solely as with unregistered land, by documented conveyance. An unintended consequence of this is that a wide range of misleading sales practices have arisen which purport to sell lordships or manors, but in effect do no such thing. Buyers therefore do not receive what they think they are buying.

This paper reviews the legal journey of lordships or manors over the past century and considers the predicament surrounding them today. It reflects on these developments and makes the argument that Scotland may be looked at as a case study for a way forward in terms of the development of a credible private register in the absence of public registration.