Land licences for the use and occupation of land cut across many areas of property and business practice, including diverse activities such as mineral extraction, franchises, licences to build, grasskeeps, and residential and social housing. However, the rules surrounding their drafting are complex and the outcome of drafting can be unpredictable.

Land Licences is the only work to deal exclusively with licences relating to the use and occupation of land and will seek to answer many of the key questions relevant to the drafting and granting of proprietary licences, including:

• What is the true nature of the rights granted?
• What rights does the licensee have against third parties?
• In what circumstances can a licence be inferred so as to prevent adverse rights arising?
• How may the licence be terminated and what are the parties' rights and obligations that arise from that?
• When and in what circumstances can the licence be assigned?
• How can the licence be terminated?
• What rights/obligations are implied into proprietary licences?
• The tax consequences of licences?

A CD-ROM will accompany the work and will contain draft notices and pleadings for use and adaptation.

Foreword
Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
Table of Statutory Instruments

• Introduction
• The Nature and Types of Licences
• Licences Distinguished from Other Rights/Interests
• Creation of Licences
• Licences and Adverse Rights
• Occupation Licences
• User Licences
• The Licence Terms
• The Burden of the Licence
• The Benefit of the Licence
• The Parties’ Non-contractual Rights and Obligations
• Termination of Licences
• Post Termination

Appendix 1
Sample Licences

Appendix 2
Notices

Appendix 3
Statements of Case

Index

John Sharples, St John's Chambers

The topic of land licences is one which, 100 years ago, would hardly have
merited more than a couple of paragraphs in a book – even one about land law
or contract law – and yet now it clearly justifies a whole book. The point is well
made by considering how few of the cases in the Table of Cases in this book
were decided before 1900; indeed, a remarkable proportion of the cases were
decided within the past twenty-five years. Land licences represent a
fast-growing topic.
It is also an interesting, difficult, and important topic. It is interesting because
it covers an area which involves an overlap of various different areas of law,
most notably two fundamental areas of law, land law and contract law, whose
principles do not always easily lie together. This leads to fascinating problems,
such as the relationship of licences with easements and profits, the extent to
which rights and obligations can bind successors, licences in the context of
construction contracts, and the effect of licences when entered into by
members of the same family are but four familiar examples. Also, there is often
the impact of a statutory provision to consider – eg sections of the Law of
Property Act 1925, the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, the Limitation
Act 1980, the Mobile Homes legislation, and some of the Housing Acts.
The topic is often difficult, not only for the same sort of reasons, but also
because it represents a subject which often embraces other areas of law, which
are themselves in a state of development: examples that spring to mind include
proprietary estoppel and human rights (particularly article 8 of the European
Convention on Human Rights). There are a number of problems in relation to
licences where there has been a sharp difference of judicial opinion – in
addition to some of the topics already mentioned, there is the distinction
between a licence and a tenancy, the effect of a lawful, or an unlawful,
termination, equitable rights arising from licences, and the interrelationship of
licences and the acquiring of limitation rights.
Land licences comprise an important topic, because land plays a more and
more important role in society, as is demonstrated by the ever-growing volume
of litigation and legislation relating to the topic. Further, because of their
traditionally essentially simple contractual nature, and because of the volume
of legislation relating to tenancies, licences have been used over the past fifty
years or so by landowners.
There is no doubt that a modern, authoritative, well-structured, comprehensive
and readable book on land licences is required, and I am pleased to be able to
say that John Sharples has written such a book. And the fact that it contains
useful appendices shows that it is directed at practitioners, as well as to
non-practising lawyers.

Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
Master of the Rolls