ABSTRACT
The law of co-ownership is a product of statute and the common law. The Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA) and the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA) are particularly important, with the latter amending significantly the original 1925 scheme. Moreover, social and economic changes also have had a great impact on the frequency with which co-ownership arises and the consequences it brings. It is no longer true that co-ownership is limited to large, country estates or to land held for investment purposes. Neither is it true that co-ownership can arise only on a deliberate conveyance of land to two or more people. The implied creation of co-ownership of land – or rather the acquisition of ownership rights by means other than a formal conveyance – is a common phenomena and an even more common claim. As we shall see, much of the law of co-ownership
today concerns the rights and responsibilities of the co-owners of the family home and the way they interact with banks, building societies and other purchasers. This change in the role of co-ownership – or, rather, this broadening of the reach of the law on co-ownership away from purely commercial or investment land – has generated significant changes to the scheme of co-ownership as it was intended to operate originally under the 1925 property legislation. These changes have been achieved both by statute (TOLATA 1996) and by judicial development of the common law.
