An Introduction to Land Law

The rules of land law are numerous, complex, and in some cases baffling to students. The study of land law is also often portrayed as dull. Too frequently those who find success in working out how the law operates in other areas find themselves defeated by land law. Even the great jurist Blackstone, while maintaining that 'there is nothing which so generally strikes the imagination, and engages the affections of mankind, as the right of property', also concluded that the study of land law 'afforded the student less amusement and pleasure in the pursuit' than the study of crime and tort.

This book tries to help with that problem. It aims to tell the rules' story: to talk about them in terms of the work they do, in a way that will allow readers to understand and engage with them. And through the example it offers, it aims also to give students the confidence, spur and tools to go on to develop such perspectives for themselves.

The book covers the main points of land law found in the syllabuses of law schools in England and Wales. While it is not intended as a comprehensive textbook on the topic, it offers sufficient detail for anyone reading it to gain an overview of the subject, and for those seeking more the footnotes offer plenty of pointers. As well as bringing the coverage up to date, this new edition adds chapters about two especially challenging aspects of the subject: the human rights dimension, and the nature of 'ownership'.

As one reader of the first edition commented, 'it shone light where none had shone before, and lit a clear path to understanding'.

'Well written and clear. A great introduction.'
Mika Oldham, Jesus College, Cambridge

'An excellent introduction. Many students will no doubt buy it.'
Matthew Conaglen, Trinity Hall, Cambridge

'A very clear and interesting way into a complex subject.'
David Gregory, Kingston University

Simon Gardner is Hanbury Fellow in Law at Lincoln College, Oxford, and Professor of Law at Oxford University.
Emily MacKenzie is training to be a barrister and is a part-time lecturer at Lincoln College, Oxford.