Selling Land - Equitable Title and Legal Title

Selling Land - Justin Santiago

Selling land requires two stages – a contract which transfers the equitable title followed by the transfer of legal title (conveyance).

Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 S2 states that a contract for the sale or other disposition of an interest in land only transfers the equitable title and must fulfill 3 requirements “-

- it must be in writing
- it must incorporate all the terms in one document
- must be signed by or on behalf of each party to the contract

The next requirement is that the conveyances of a legal estate by way of sale must be by deed LPA S52(1) which transfers the legal title. Under the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 S1 - a deed is defined as a document which :-

- makes it clear on its face that it is a deed requires that the word ‘Deed’ appear on the document
- is signed and witnessed
- is delivered