Unit 1.3 Paper 1

Introduction to Land Law for the RES Exam

Last reviewed 12 October 2026

Unit 1.3 is short but it supplies the vocabulary for the whole of Paper 1. It draws four distinctions: real property against personal property, proprietary rights against personal rights, ownership against lesser interests, and legal interests against equitable ones. Almost every question in the unit is one of those four distinctions dressed up as a scenario, usually involving an exercised option to purchase or a licence.

Key points

Real property is land and interests in land; personal property is everything else, including shares and REIT units even where the company or trust owns land.
A leasehold is historically classed as personal property — a ‘chattel real’ — yet it is still an interest in land and a proprietary right.
A proprietary right binds later owners; a personal right binds only the parties, and a licence stays personal however formal or well paid.
Exclusive possession for a term at a rent points to a lease; shared occupation or no defined area points to a licence.
Under LTA s 46(1)(h), a tenant in occupation under a tenancy of seven years or less binds a purchaser even without registration or a caveat.
Granting a lease, mortgage or easement does not transfer ownership; a registered mortgage is security and the borrower stays the registered proprietor.
An exercised option gives the buyer an equitable interest; legal title passes only on registration of the transfer.
A lease of more than seven years not made by deed is void at law but can take effect as an equitable lease under Walsh v Lonsdale.
A caveat protects an existing unregistered interest — it creates nothing, and a right to commission is not caveatable.

Real property and personal property

Real property is land and interests in land. That includes the soil, the buildings on it and fixtures that have become part of the land, such as built-in kitchen cabinets. It also includes incorporeal interests attached to land, such as an easement, and interests like a strata lot, an accessory lot or an undivided share held by a co-owner. Personal property is everything else.

Personal property divides into choses in possession, tangible movables such as a car or a free-standing sofa, and choses in action, intangible rights enforceable only by legal action, such as shares, REIT units and a debt. This is where the unit’s favourite trap sits. Shares in a company are personal property even if the company’s only asset is land: the company is a separate legal person and is the registered proprietor, so the shareholder owns shares, not the shophouse. REIT units work the same way — the trustee holds the properties and the unitholder owns units in the trust.

There is one piece of history you need. At common law only freehold interests were real property, because they could be recovered by a “real” action; a leasehold was enforced by a personal action and so was classed as personal property, which is why a lease is traditionally called a chattel real. A lease is nonetheless an interest in land, so a question can correctly say both things at once.

Proprietary rights and personal rights

A proprietary right is a right in the land itself, and it is capable of binding third parties who later acquire the land. Ownership, a lease, a mortgage, an easement such as a registered right of way, a restrictive covenant and a beneficiary’s interest under a trust of land are all proprietary. A personal right exists only between the parties who created it. The classic example is a licence: a permission that makes lawful what would otherwise be a trespass, but which creates no interest in land.

The test is substance, not form. Putting a licence in writing, giving it a fixed term, or paying a fee for it does not convert it into an interest in land. A bare licence is a free permission — a weekend guest, a relative allowed to occupy rent-free. A contractual licence is one given under a contract, such as paid permission to park or to hang a signboard. In each case, if the owner sells, the licensee’s claim lies against the former owner in contract; the buyer is not bound. That is the practical consequence the exam wants you to state.

What separates a lease from a licence is exclusive possession of a defined area for a term, usually at a rent. A stallholder with no fixed area, or a lodger who shares the owner’s home, has a licence rather than a tenancy, and a label in the agreement is not conclusive because the court looks at the substance. The point matters because under Land Titles Act section 46(1)(h) a registered proprietor takes subject to the rights of a person in occupation under a tenancy not exceeding seven years, even if it is unregistered and uncaveated; a licensee is not such a tenant and gets no protection. Note too that a salesperson’s right to commission is a contractual claim against the principal, not an interest in the property, so it cannot support a caveat.

Ownership and lesser interests

Ownership is the largest bundle of rights a person can hold in land — in Singapore, an estate in fee simple (an estate in perpetuity) or, for leasehold property, the owner’s lease from the State. Lesser interests are rights carved out of, or charged on, that ownership: a lease or tenancy, a mortgage or charge, an easement, a restrictive covenant.

Granting a lesser interest does not transfer ownership. A landlord who grants a lease gives the tenant exclusive possession for the term but keeps the reversion and may still sell, although the buyer takes subject to the lease; what the landlord may not do is use, re-let or enter the premises at will, because that interferes with the tenant’s exclusive possession. A registered mortgage under the Land Titles Act operates as security only: the borrower stays the registered proprietor and the bank holds a lesser interest, discharged on repayment. A tenant does not become an owner by occupying for the term, and the fee simple itself is ownership, not a lesser interest.

Legal and equitable interests

Legal interests are those recognised at law; equitable interests are those recognised and enforced in equity, which developed to relieve the harshness of the strict common law. Three situations generate an equitable interest, and all three appear constantly in the question bank.

The first is the trust. Where land is held on trust, the trustee holds the legal title shown on the register and the beneficiary holds the beneficial or equitable interest. The beneficiary’s interest exists from the moment the trust is created and does not wait for a transfer, but only the trustee can deal with and transfer the legal estate, and one of several trustees cannot act alone. A resulting trust can arise where one person pays the price but another is registered as proprietor.

The second is a contract for the sale of land. Once an option to purchase is exercised there is a binding contract, and because a court would order specific performance of it, equity treats the buyer as having an equitable interest in the property from that moment. Legal title stays with the seller until the transfer is registered. The buyer’s right is therefore proprietary, not merely a personal claim for damages or a refund of the option money.

The third is a failure of formality. Under the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, a conveyance of an interest in land is void at law unless made by deed, except a lease not exceeding seven years at a rack rent. A ten-year lease made by signed writing alone is therefore not a legal lease — but under the rule in Walsh v Lonsdale, equity treats as done what ought to be done, so a specifically enforceable agreement for a lease takes effect as an equitable lease on the same terms. The tenant is not a mere licensee.

Equitable interests are weaker than legal ones. An equitable interest does not bind a bona fide purchaser of the legal estate for value without notice, and in registered land an unprotected equitable interest is generally defeated once an innocent purchaser becomes the registered proprietor. That is precisely why such interests are protected by caveat.

The Torrens system, registration and caveats

Singapore registered land is governed by the Land Titles Act 1993, a Torrens system in which the register is the source of title. A legal interest in registered land is created by registration: the registered proprietor holds the legal estate, a registered lease and a registered mortgage are legal interests, and legal title to land passes only when the transfer is registered. Not on exercise of the option, not on payment of the balance, not on completion or the handing over of keys — the exam tests this relentlessly.

Section 46(1) gives the registered proprietor a title free of all encumbrances except those registered or notified, subject to the exceptions listed there: conditions in the State title, subsisting easements and public rights of way, statutory obligations, the Registrar’s power to correct errors, the court’s power to rectify, and the rights of a person in occupation under a tenancy not exceeding seven years. Under section 46(2) the title can be defeated for fraud or forgery to which the proprietor or the proprietor’s agent was a party or in which they colluded.

A caveat is how an unregistered interest is protected in the interval. Any person claiming an interest in land may lodge one, and it operates as a warning on the register: it stops an inconsistent dealing being registered without notice to the caveator, who is then notified and can take steps to protect the claim. A caveat does not create or transfer any interest — it only protects an interest the caveator already has — and it cannot be lodged where there is no interest in land to protect. A person who lodges a caveat wrongfully and without reasonable cause may have to compensate anyone who suffers loss. A caveat lodged with SLA is valid for five years from lodgment unless extended, withdrawn or removed, and where the Registrar serves a lapsing notice the caveator has 30 days from service to obtain a court order to the contrary.

Terms to know

Real property: Land and interests in land, including buildings, fixtures and incorporeal interests such as easements.
Chattel real: The traditional classification of a leasehold interest as personal property, even though a lease is an interest in land.
Chose in action: An intangible item of personal property enforceable only by legal action, such as shares, REIT units or a debt.
Proprietary right: A right in the land itself, capable of binding third parties who later acquire the land.
Licence: A personal permission that makes lawful what would otherwise be a trespass; it creates no interest in land and generally does not bind a purchaser.
Equitable interest: An interest recognised and enforced in equity rather than at law, such as a beneficiary’s interest under a trust or a buyer’s interest after an option is exercised.
Walsh v Lonsdale: The rule that a specifically enforceable agreement for a lease takes effect in equity as a lease on the same terms, even where the legal formalities failed.
Caveat: A warning lodged on the land register to protect an unregistered interest in land by preventing inconsistent dealings from being registered without notice to the caveator.

Frequently asked questions

When does a buyer of registered land become the legal owner?

Only when the transfer is registered with SLA’s Land Titles Registry after completion. Exercising the option to purchase creates a binding contract and gives the buyer an equitable interest; paying the balance and taking the keys do not pass legal title. Until registration the seller remains the registered proprietor and holds the legal estate.

What is the difference between a lease and a licence?

A lease gives exclusive possession of a defined area for a term, usually at a rent, and is an interest in land that can bind a purchaser of the landlord’s interest. A licence is only permission to be on the land; it creates no interest and generally binds only the person who gave it. Writing, a fixed term and payment do not turn a licence into a lease — the court looks at whether exclusive possession was in fact granted.

Does a caveat give the person who lodged it ownership of the property?

No. A caveat neither creates nor transfers any estate or interest. It is a statutory warning on the register that protects an interest the caveator already claims, by preventing an inconsistent dealing from being registered without notice to him. Lodging a caveat without a caveatable interest is wrongful, and a caveator who acts without reasonable cause may have to compensate anyone who suffers loss.

Are REIT units real property?

No. They are personal property, specifically a chose in action. The REIT’s trustee holds legal title to the underlying buildings, so the unitholder has no interest in any particular property, nothing that can be registered, and nothing that could support a caveat. The same reasoning applies to shares in a property company.

What happens if a lease of more than seven years is not made by deed?

It is void at law, because the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act requires a conveyance of an interest in land to be made by deed, with an exception only for a lease not exceeding seven years at a rack rent. But equity treats as done what ought to be done, so under the rule in Walsh v Lonsdale a specifically enforceable written agreement takes effect as an equitable lease on the same terms. The tenant should protect it by lodging a caveat.

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