What is property – Revision Notes
Property definitions
- Intangible rights in respect to things (tangible and intangible)
Academics
- Relationship between people with respect to things -> Ackerman
- A bundle of rights -> Hohfeld
o Right of use, control, possession, profit, capital
- A manmade construct to control and regulate finite resources -> Kohler
- Control over access -> Gray
Statute
- Law of Property Act 1925 – section 205(1)(xx)
o “Property includes anything in action, and any interest in real or personal
property”
! Remember that it’s easy to get caught up in the technicalities of the subject and forget
that we are often talking about people’s homes and livelihoods!
- Ainsworth case – women’s interest over her own home versus the bank’s interest
- Can everything be propertized?
o Moral values – human body is not property
o Practical reasons – light from street lighting
o Can control what happens on and to land differently – contract, regulations
o Victoria Park Racing case
Real (land) v personal (chattels) property
Real property Personal Property
Permanent in nature Not (usually) permanent in nature
Capable of multiple uses Incapable of multiple uses
Indestructible Destructible
Unique commodity
Definition of land
Law of Property Act 1925, S 205(1)(ix)
‘“Land” includes land of any tenure, and mines and minerals, whether or not held apart
from the surface, buildings or parts of buildings (whether the division is horizontal, vertical
or made in any other way) and other corporeal hereditaments; also a manor, an advowson,
Property definitions
- Intangible rights in respect to things (tangible and intangible)
Academics
- Relationship between people with respect to things -> Ackerman
- A bundle of rights -> Hohfeld
o Right of use, control, possession, profit, capital
- A manmade construct to control and regulate finite resources -> Kohler
- Control over access -> Gray
Statute
- Law of Property Act 1925 – section 205(1)(xx)
o “Property includes anything in action, and any interest in real or personal
property”
! Remember that it’s easy to get caught up in the technicalities of the subject and forget
that we are often talking about people’s homes and livelihoods!
- Ainsworth case – women’s interest over her own home versus the bank’s interest
- Can everything be propertized?
o Moral values – human body is not property
o Practical reasons – light from street lighting
o Can control what happens on and to land differently – contract, regulations
o Victoria Park Racing case
Real (land) v personal (chattels) property
Real property Personal Property
Permanent in nature Not (usually) permanent in nature
Capable of multiple uses Incapable of multiple uses
Indestructible Destructible
Unique commodity
Definition of land
Law of Property Act 1925, S 205(1)(ix)
‘“Land” includes land of any tenure, and mines and minerals, whether or not held apart
from the surface, buildings or parts of buildings (whether the division is horizontal, vertical
or made in any other way) and other corporeal hereditaments; also a manor, an advowson,
