Call for evidence: Manorial rights
20 June 2014
The Justice Committee asks for written submissions by Friday 5 September 2014.
Background
The Land Registry describes manorial rights as rights which were retained by lords of the manor when land became freehold. They can include rights to mines and some minerals, sporting rights such as hunting, shooting and fishing, and rights to hold fairs and markets.
Manorial rights were specifically preserved in 1926 when other aspects of the manorial system were abolished. Following changes introduced by the Land Registration Act 2002 manorial rights lost their overriding status in relation to properties if they were not protected by being registered before 13 October 2013.
Abolition of manorial rights
This has led to large numbers of applications to enter a notice claiming manorial rights on properties in England and Wales being made to the Land Registry in recent years, and subsequent notifications of these claims being sent to landowners by the Land Registry. As a consequence, the Committee has recently received a number of representations calling for the abolition of manorial rights.
In response to these representations the Committee wrote both to the Law Commission and the Government asking whether there were plans to review the law concerning manorial rights in order to consider whether such rights should be abolished. There are currently no such plans to do so. Therefore the Committee has decided to carry out a short inquiry into manorial rights in order to instigate a debate on the current situation and inform any possible future review.
Written submissions requested
The Committee invites interested organisations and individuals to submit written evidence to the inquiry. The Committee would be particularly interested in receiving evidence related to the points below, but submissions may address any aspect of the current laws and procedures in relation to manorial rights that may be of relevance to the Committee’s inquiry.
- The recent incidence of manorial rights being exercised, and the impact upon landowners.
- The arguments for and against the abolition of manorial rights.
- The implications of abolishing manorial rights, including the cost of any appropriate compensation that may be required.
Those wishing to submit evidence to the Committee’s inquiry are advised that, in accordance with the House’s sub judice resolution, the Committee is unable to accept evidence referring to individual cases which are before the courts, except in relation to judicial review of a ministerial decision, which may be referred to in evidence.
Individual cases in which there are no live legal proceedings may be referred to in evidence, but the Committee is not permitted to take any action to investigate or intervene in such cases.
The deadline for submission of evidence is Friday 5 September 2014.
Sending a submission
As part of a scheme to encourage paperless working and maximise efficiency there now is a new web portal for online submissions of written evidence. Written submissions for this inquiry should therefore be sent via the Manorial rights inquiry page.