William Gardiner Paton and Another v Adrian Todd
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Morgan |
| Judgment Date | 11 May 2012 |
| Neutral Citation | [2012] EWHC 1248 (Ch) |
| Docket Number | Case No: 2BS30045 |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Date | 11 May 2012 |
[2012] EWHC 1248 (Ch)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
CHANCERY DIVISION
BRISTOL DISTRICT REGISTRY
Bristol Civil Justice Centre
Redcliff Street, Bristol
Mr Justice Morgan
Case No: 2BS30045
The Appellants appeared in person
Mr David Taylor (instructed by Peter Peter & Wright) for the Respondent
Hearing dates: 27 th and 28 th March 2012
| Heading | Para |
| Introduction | 1 |
| Mr Todd's registered title | 4 |
| The application to alter the registered title | 6 |
| Mr and Mrs Paton's registered title | 12 |
| The general boundaries rule | 13 |
| Other matters | 14 |
| The construction of the conveyance of 1st May 1981 | 18 |
| The presumption as to land fronting a road | 26 |
| Law of Property Act 1925, section 62 | 48 |
| The result as to title to the blue land | 50 |
| Alteration of Mr Todd's registered title | 51 |
| The Deputy Adjudicator's reasoning | 73 |
| The result | 101 |
Introduction
Mr and Mrs Paton seek permission to appeal against a decision dated 1 st June 2011, whereby a Deputy Adjudicator to Her Majesty's Land Registry dismissed their application to alter the title which was registered in the name of Mr Todd under Title Number DN514864. The application for permission to appeal was listed so that if I granted permission to appeal, I would immediately proceed to hear the substantive appeal. The application was heard over 2 days in March 2012 and each side put forward all of the submissions they wished to put forward in relation to the appeal, if permission to appeal were to be granted. Following the conclusion of argument, I reserved my decision. As I will explain in this judgment, I consider that it is appropriate for permission to appeal to be granted to Mr and Mrs Paton and, accordingly, this judgment deals with both the application for permission to appeal and the substantive appeal.
The intended appeal is under the Land Registration Act 2002 (" LRA 2002"), section 111. The appeal may be on a point of law or on the facts. Permission to appeal is required by Access to Justice Act 1999, section 54(1) and CPR PD 52 para. 23.8B. In a case, like the present, where there was no hearing before the Deputy Adjudicator, any appeal would be by way of a re-hearing: see CPR PD 52 para 9.1 and Starclass Properties Ltd v Dudgeon [2006] All ER (D) 203 (Feb).
Mr and Mrs Paton appeared in person. Mrs Paton presented oral submissions on behalf of herself and her husband. Mr Taylor of counsel appeared on behalf of Mr Todd.
Mr Todd's registered title
Although it will be necessary in the course of this judgment to explain the conveyancing background to the matters in dispute, I will begin by referring to the circumstances in which the land which is currently in Title Number DN514864 came to be registered and then vested in Mr Todd.
Before 17 th November 2004, land known as Glebe Yard, Northlew, Devon was vested in Mr Isaacs and Mr Browne as the personal representatives of Rita Eleanor Bater, deceased. At that time, their title to that land was unregistered. On 17 th November 2004, Mr Isaacs and Mr Browne completed Form AS1 vesting title to Glebe Yard in themselves as bare trustees. The land which was the subject of Form AS1 was defined by reference to an attached plan. That plan showed the yard in question and included an area of land which provided an access to the yard from Queen Street, Northlew. On 1 st December 2004, Mr Isaacs and Mr Browne applied for first registration of the land the subject of Form AS1. They submitted Form FR1 to the Land Registry. That form referred to an attached plan which showed the land the subject of Form AS1. With effect from 2 nd December 2004, Mr Isaacs and Mr Browne were registered in relation to that land under Title Number DN505231. On 24 th March 2005, Mr Isaacs and Mr Browne contracted to sell that registered title to Mr Todd and Adrian Todd Building Limited. On 31 st March 2005, Mr Isaacs and Mr Browne executed two Form TP1s in relation to the land in Title Number DN505231 but divided into two parts described as Plot 1 and Plot 2. Plot 1 was transferred to Mr Todd and Plot 2 was transferred to Adrian Todd Building Limited. With effect from 30 th June 2005, the transferees were registered in relation to the land the subject of these transfers, Mr Todd under Title Number DN514864 and Adrian Todd Building Limited under Title Number DN514865. Plot 1, registered in the name of Mr Todd, included the land referred to above which provided the access from Queen Street to the yard behind.
The application to alter the registered title
Although the formal position was not clear at the hearing before me, I was told by Mrs Paton that on 19 th December 2007, she and her husband applied for first registration of their title to the property known as Clome Cottage, Queen Street, Northlew and at the same time they applied for alteration of the register of Title Number DN514864 to remove from it the land which formed the access from Queen Street to Glebe Yard, to allow that land to be registered (together with Clome Cottage) in their name. I am not clear what precisely happened in relation to their application to alter that registered title save that the Land Registry appears to have treated it as reinstated with effect from 26 th June 2008. If that is right, then the effective date for the application to alter Title Number DN514864 would be 26 th June 2008.
In this judgment, I will refer to Title Number DN514864 as "Mr Todd's registered title" and to the part of it which is in dispute on the application for alteration as "the blue land" (as it is shown blue on the relevant plans before me).
The Land Registry gave notice to Mr Todd of Mr and Mrs Paton's application to alter Mr Todd's registered title and Mr Todd served notice of objection to that application. The Land Registry then referred "the matter" to the Adjudicator under Land Registration Act 2002 (" LRA 2002") section 73(7). The matter was thereafter dealt with by the Deputy Adjudicator. I have not seen the terms of the reference but it is apparent from the decision of the Deputy Adjudicator that he considered that the reference related to the application for alteration of Mr Todd's registered title, to which the registered proprietor had objected. Mr and Mrs Paton's separate application for first registration in relation to Clome Cottage was not as such before the Deputy Adjudicator, although the decision he made in relation to the suggested alteration of Mr Todd's registered title plainly had implications for Mr and Mrs Paton's application for first registration.
The parties agreed that the Deputy Adjudicator should consider and determine the matter referred to him on the basis of written submissions and documents provided to him and without a hearing. He inspected the land in question in the presence of Mr and Mrs Paton and Mr Todd's solicitor.
In his decision dated 1 st June 2011, the Deputy Adjudicator held that Mr Isaacs and Mr Browne did not have an unregistered title to the blue land and title to the blue land was only vested in them upon first registration under Title Number DN505231. Title to the blue land was then transferred by them to Mr Todd. The Deputy Adjudicator rejected the contentions of Mr and Mrs Paton that they had had an unregistered title to the blue land. The Deputy Adjudicator held that prior to registration of the blue land, it was owned by some unknown third party. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr and Mrs Paton did not have any property interest in the blue land, the Deputy Adjudicator held that they had standing to apply to alter Mr Todd's registered title in relation to the blue land. He held that Mr Todd was not a proprietor in possession for the purposes of LRA 2002, schedule 4 para. 6(2) but if Mr Todd had been, then the application to alter the registered title would have been rejected. The matter was governed by LRA 2002, schedule 4 para. 6(3) and the Deputy Adjudicator held that there were exceptional circumstances which justified a refusal to alter the registered title in relation to the blue land. Accordingly, he directed that the application to alter the registered title be cancelled.
Following his decision of 1 st June 2011, the Deputy Adjudicator ordered Mr and Mrs Paton to pay Mr Todd's costs of the application to alter Mr Todd's registered title and refused permission to appeal.
Mr and Mrs Paton's registered title
Following the decision of 1 st June 2011, the Land Registry then dealt with Mr and Mrs Paton's application for first registration in relation to Clome Cottage and with effect from 2 nd November 2009, title to Clome Cottage was registered in their name under Title Number DN594232. That title does not include the blue land. The filed plan to that title shows Clome Cottage and its garden to the north of the blue land and a smaller area to the south of the blue land. Thus, the blue land divides the two parts of the land in Mr and Mrs Paton's registered title.
The general boundaries rule
It is convenient at this point to mention the general boundaries rule in relation to registered land. The rule is stated in LRA 2002 section 60. By section 60(1), the boundary of a registered estate as shown for the purposes of the register is a general boundary, unless shown as determined under section 60. By section 60(2), a general boundary does not determine the exact line of the boundary. In the present case the boundary of Title Number DN514864 and the boundary of Title Number DN 594232 are general boundaries. The filed plans for those titles do not show the exact line of the boundary which divides the blue land from Mr and Mrs Paton's land. If Mr Todd's registered title were to be altered by the removal of the blue land, then...
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