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Essential Law for Landowners and Farmers, Fourth Edition PDF

309 Pages·2002·3.808 MB·English
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Essential Law for Landowners and Farmers Fourth Edition Essential Law for Landowners and Farmers fourth edition Angela Sydenham Birketts Solicitors, Ipswich Bruce Monnington Country Land and Business Association Andrew Pym Chartered Surveyor Blackwell Science © 2002 by Blackwell Science Ltd, First Edition published by Granada a Blackwell Publishing Company Publishing - Technical Books Division 1980 Editorial Offices: Second Edition published by Collins Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 OEL, UK Professional and Technical Books 1987 Tel: +44 (0) 1865 206206 Third Edition published by BSP Professional Blackwell Science, Inc., 350 Main Street, Books 1990 Maiden, MA 02148-5018, USA Fourth Edition published by Blackwell Tel: +1 781 388 8250 Science 2002 Iowa State Press, a Blackwell Publishing Company, 2121 State Avenue, Ames, Iowa Library of Congress 50014-8300, USA Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tel: +1 515 292 0140 is available Blackwell Science Asia Pty, 54 University Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia ISBN 0-632-05796-3 Tel: +61 (0)3 9347 0300 Blackwell Wissenschafts Verlag, A catalogue record for this title is available Kurfurstendamm 57, 10707 Berlin, from the British Library Germany Tel: +49 (0)30 32 79 060 Set in 10/12pt Sabon by DP Photosetting, Aylesbury, Bucks The right of the Author to be identified as Printed and bound in Great Britain by the Author of this Work has been asserted in MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. For further information on Blackwell Science, visit our website: All rights reserved. No part of this www.blackwell-science.com publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover illustration courtesy of Nigel Farthing, Birketts Solicitors In Memoriam Michael Gregory Contents Preface to the fourth edition xi 1 Introduction to Land Law 1 1.1 General principles 1 1.2 The legal estates 2 1.3 Legal interests 3 1.4 Equitable interests 4 1.5 Registration of title 6 2 Farm Business Tenancies 12 2.1 Introduction 12 2.2 Meaning of farm business tenancy 12 2.3 Termination of a farm business tenancy 17 2.4 Rent 19 2.5 Fixtures and compensation 23 2.6 Dispute resolution 27 2.7 Notices 29 3 Agricultural Holdings Act Tenancies 31 3.1 Introduction 31 3.2 Definitions 31 3.3 The tenancy agreement 32 3.4 Fixed equipment 32 3.5 Rent 34 3.6 Security of tenure 36 3.7 Compensation 39 3.8 Succession tenancies 42 3.9 Disputes procedure 45 4 Residential Protection of Farm Workers 47 4.1 Introduction 47 4.2 The Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 47 4.3 The Housing Act 1988 53 4.4 The Rent Act 1977 56 4.5 The Protection From Eviction Act 1977 57 4.6 Shorthold tenancies 57 5 Business Tenancies on Farms and Estates 60 5.1 Introduction 60 5.2 Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies 60 5.3 Farm business tenancies 60 viii Contents 5.4 New tenants 61 5.5 The legal nature of a lease or tenancy 61 5.6 The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 Part II 62 5.7 Stamp duty 67 5.8 Registration 68 6 Public Access 69 6.1 Introduction 69 6.2 Public rights of way 69 6.3 Limitations on land use causd by public rights of way 72 6.4 Access to open land and registered common land 80 6.5 Towns and village greens 84 7 Planning 86 7.1 Introduction 86 7.2 The need for planning permission 86 7.3 The General Permitted Development Order 88 7.4 Obtaining planning permission 96 7.5 Specific planning issues 100 7.6 Listed buildings, conservation areas and other designated property 103 7.7 Appeals 108 7.8 Enforcement of planning control 111 7.9 The development plan 114 7.10 Government guidance 117 8 Compulsory Purchase and Compensation 118 8.1 Introduction 118 8.2 The legislative background 118 8.3 The power to acquire land compulsorily 120 8.4 The assessment of compensation 124 8.5 The Critchel Down rules 135 9 Utilities - Rights and Wayleaves 137 9.1 Introduction 137 9.2 Wayleaves 137 9.3 Works in the highway land and private tracks 138 9.4 Electricity 140 9.5 Telecoms 144 9.6 Gas 146 9.7 Water resources and drainage 149 9.8 Water and sewerage 152 9.9 All other pipelines 156 Contents ix 10 Liability of the Occupier of Land 158 10.1 Impact of land use 158 10.2 Insurance 158 10.3 Negligence 159 10.4 Occupiers' liability 159 10.5 Nuisance 162 10.6 Strict liability - Rylands v. Fletcher 168 10.7 Straying animals 169 10.8 Trespass 171 11 Water and Watercourses 174 11.1 Responsibility for water management 174 11.2 Land acquisition 175 11.3 Riparian rights 175 11.4 Water abstraction 176 11.5 Impounding water 180 11.6 Stocking fishing lakes 181 11.7 Land drainage and flood defence 181 12 Sporting Matters 185 12.1 Sporting rights 185 12.2 Protection of wildlife 187 12.3 Game laws 189 12.4 Poaching of game 189 12.5 Firearms 191 12.6 Fishing 193 12.7 Poaching of fish 199 12.8 The Environment Agency 200 12.9 Hunting 200 Appendix to Chapter 12 202 13 Environment 207 13.1 Introduction 207 13.2 Water pollution 207 13.3 Other pollution control measures 209 13.4 The codes of practice 210 13.5 Contaminated land 211 13.6 Fly tipping 216 13.7 Waste disposal 218 13.8 The Hedgerow Regulations 1997 223 14 Milk Quotas 224 14.1 Introduction 224 14.2 The milk quota system 224 14.3 Special quota 225 X Contents 14.4 Transfer of quota 225 14.5 Leasing of milk quota 230 14.6 Milk quota and tenancies 230 15 Employment 235 15.1 Introduction 235 15.2 Employment Tribunals 235 15.3 Employees or self-employed workers 236 15.4 Engaging a worker 238 15.5 Breaches of contract 242 15.6 Rights under the employment legislation 242 15.7 Discipline 244 15.8 Dismissal 244 15.9 Redundancy 247 15.10 Change in ownership of business 251 15.11 Health and safety at work 253 16 Rating and Council Tax 254 16.1 Rating 254 16.2 Council Tax 261 Further Reading 265 Table of Cases 266 Table of Statutes 271 Table of Statutory Instruments 287 Index 290 Preface to the fourth edition It is eleven years since the third edition of this book. There have been many changes to the law during that time, not least the introduction of the farm business tenancy. Whilst acknowledging the debt we owe to Michael Gregory and Margaret Parrish, the original authors of the book, we have taken the opportunity in this edition to revise the format and extend the content. Chapters 1, 2, 5 and 13 cover new topics and there has been a complete rewrite of Chapters 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9. The other chapters have been substantially updated. The book states the law at 31 January 2001. However, new legislation and cases mean that the law is constantly changing. Therefore, readers should not rely on this book alone when trying to resolve their legal problems. Moreover so short a book, covering such a wide range of topics, can be no more than an introduction to the areas of law with which the landowner and farmer is likely to be involved. It is important therefore that professional advice should be taken from lawyers and land agents on individual problems. All three authors have worked for the Country Landowners and Business Association. In our capacity as legal advisers and as a rural practice surveyor we have answered numerous questions relating to land ownership and use. As in previous editions we have concentrated on those problems which cause most trouble and generate most queries. While many issues affecting land are decided in the courts on the basis of the law, some are dedicated by authorities or inspectors exercising their discretion, in the light of gov- ernment policy, having heard wide ranging evidence. For that reason the chapters on planning, compulsory purchase and utilities have been written by a surveyor. Our hope is that this book will prove useful to landowners, farmers and their advisers, students studying agricultural law and their teachers. Essential Law for Landowners and Farmers, Fourth Edition Angela Sydenham, Bruce Monnington, Andrew Pym Copyright © 2002 by Blackwell Science Ltd, a Blackwell Publishing Company Chapter 1 Introduction to Land Law 1.1 General principles Land law is a complicated area of the law. There are several reasons for this. Land is permanent. Many of the rules were originally developed in feudal times. Although the law has changed to meet the needs of modern society, it reflects not a clean sweep but a continuous historical growth over many centuries. Land being a scarce resource can never remain wholly within the con- trol of private individuals. Economic and political factors have led to state intervention in many areas most notably in housing and planning law. A further complication is the abstract theory of land law which enables many estates and interests, both present and future, to exist in the same piece of land. When William I conquered England he considered himself to be the owner of all English soil. In order to reward his supporters he granted them rights over land in return for certain services. One baron might provide ten armed horsemen each year for the king, another might per- form ceremonial rights. These tenants in chief (about 1,500 were recorded in 1086 at the time of the Domesday Book) could in turn grant rights to others for services rendered to them, and so on. There emerged a feudal pyramid with the king at the apex and the actual occupants at the base. After 1290, however, the ability to create new tenures was abolished. Technically, therefore, land is owned by the Crown. Its subjects own not the physical soil but an estate in the land. An estate in this context has a special meaning. It is not the physical parkland and farms, but an abstract entity interposed between the tenant and the land. Tenant here means one who holds freehold land of a superior lord. Today all such tenants hold directly from the Crown. It is in this sense that joint owners of freehold property are called either joint tenants or tenants in common. The tenant is given specific rights and powers for a period of time. In the sixteenth century in Walsingham's case this principle was expressed as follows: 'The land is one thing and the estate is another thing, for an estate in the land is time in the land, or land for a time, and there are diversities of estate, which are no more than diversities of time.' The estate indicates the period of time that the tenant enjoys in the land. He may have a life interest or a fee simple, that is an estate which lasts as long as he has heirs. Should a fee simple owner die without a will, or without relatives who are entitled to claim under the rules of intestacy, the property will revert to the Crown. This is the result of the Crown's existing

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