Land Registration and Priority of Interests
Domain 4 - Land Registration and Priority of Interests
This domain tests the priority consequences of registration: which interest binds a purchaser, when an unregistered interest overrides, and when overreaching removes an interest from the land altogether.
The priority framework
For registered land, a registered disposition for value generally takes priority over unregistered interests except those that override. In the Land Registration Act 2002 model, s 28 preserves the priority of interests on first registration, while s 29 protects a registered purchaser for value against prior unregistered interests unless they fall within Schedule 3. Schedule 3 includes certain leases, easements, and interests of persons in actual occupation. Actual occupation is a question of fact: presence plus intention to possess (Link Lending v Bustard); temporary absence may not defeat it (Chhokar v Chhokar). The occupation must be obvious on a reasonably careful inspection or known to the purchaser, and the occupier must not have failed to disclose it when asked. Ghana’s Land Act 2020 and Land Registry Act 2021 adopt comparable registration and priority ideas; apply the local statute’s exact provisions.
Overreaching
Overreaching is different from overriding. A beneficial interest under a trust may be detached from the land and transferred to the proceeds of sale where the disposition is made by at least two trustees or a trust corporation and capital money is paid to them. Williams & Glyn’s Bank v Boland illustrates the risk to a mortgagee where a spouse’s occupation was not overreached; Abbey National v Cann shows that occupation must exist at the relevant time. Scott v Southern Pacific Mortgages confirms that overreaching requires the borrower to have the power to grant the disposition.
Worked example
O is sole registered proprietor. T occupies under an unregistered lease and is in actual occupation. Bank takes a registered charge without inspecting. Under s 29, Bank’s charge may bind T only if T’s interest overrides under Schedule 3. T’s occupation is obvious, so the charge is likely subject to the lease. If instead O held on trust for T and the charge was granted by two trustees with capital money paid to them, T’s beneficial interest would be overreached and Bank would take free.
Traps
Registration is not the same as notice. Actual occupation does not automatically bind: inquiry, disclosure and obviousness matter. Overreaching requires the right formalities, not merely occupation. Rectification and indemnity are separate remedies. Always identify the date of the disposition and the local statute’s exact wording.