Inversion of possession meaning

This glossary outlines commonly used terms and phrases in Scottish property law, together with the closest England and Wales equivalents (where appropriate), and signposts guidance on differences between Scottish property transactions and law, as well as useful property-related websites. A non domino disposition Meaning A disposition granted by someone with no title to the property. Formerly, this could regularise a defective title where, after registering a non domino disposition, the grantee possessed the property openly, peaceably and without judicial interruption for ten years. Since 8 December 2014, with the commencement of the Land Registration etc (Scotland) Act 2012 (LRE(S)A 2012), a party seeking to obtain title to land where no owner can be traced must comply with the prescriptive claimant provisions in LRE(S)A 2012, ss 43–45 before submitting an a non domino disposition for registration. Nearest English equivalent None, although possessory title is similar. Action of specific implement Meaning A court action seeking an order compelling a party to perform a specified...

Common law on making alterations Under common law, an implied term confines a let property to the use for which it was demised; put another way, the tenant must not invert the possession. By virtue of that implied obligation, a tenant is restrained from undertaking material, structural changes to the leased subjects without the landlord’s agreement or permission. Where unauthorised material structural works are carried out, the landlord may, in the absence of acquiescence, oblige the tenant to reinstate the premises to their former condition. In short, works of that nature done without consent are prohibited. Consent remains essential always. See: Leck v Fulton and Thomson (1854) 17 D 408 (not reported by LexisNexis®) and Muir v Wilson. That said, a landlord’s behaviour may amount to acquiescence, precluding any later challenge to an inversion of possession. In Moore v Munro (1896) 4 SLT 172 (not reported by LexisNexis®), the premises were let as a shop ‘for carrying on the business of a grocer and provision merchant’. The tenant...

Diversification at common law Diversification, i.e. employing the holding for a non-agricultural end not authorised by the lease, would, at common law, amount to a breach of the lease and, in many instances, could additionally trigger a conventional irritancy, in appropriate circumstances and contexts, by the landlord as well. For more detail, see: Diversification: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia [107K]. Statutory Diversification Part 3 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 (AH(S)A 2003) confers on agricultural tenants a right to diversify by putting the land to a non-agricultural use. That right extends to 1991 Act Tenancies and to 2003 Act Tenancies, save for short limited duration tenancies (SLDTs). Although diversification may, at common law, constitute an inversion of possession and change the character of the lease from that of an agricultural holding (to which the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Acts apply), if—and only if—the statutory process is observed, the lease continues to be agricultural in nature despite the altered use. The legislation does not seem to preclude the possibility that,...