Owning
land and/or landed property is one of the fundamental ideologies behind man’s
existence on earth. This is largely due in part to it been used as a yardstick
in determining one’s level of success, influence, status and socio-political
power among family members and relatives, peer groups, colleagues and the
society at large.
However,
there are some certain types of propriety rights that are enjoyed from owning land
and landed properties which I will explain to you today. But before I go on
with my explanations, let me briefly define Estate Management as a course of
study in order to ignite your enthusiasm and curiosity on the topic.
Thorncroft,
M (1965) defined Estate Management as “the direction and supervision of an
interest in landed property with the aim of securing an optimum return. This
return need not always be financial but may be in terms of social benefits,
status, prestige, political power or some other goals or group of goals”
From
the definition above, you will realize that it is through directing and
supervising the various interests inherent in land and landed property
ownership that brings about the study of estate management to assist and guide the
property owner in achieving their identified goal or group of goals.
Propriety Rights and Interests are
the Bundle of Rights which an owner of land and/or landed property has and enjoys
from its ownership.
Some
of this bundle of rights includes:
·
Right to lawful
possession
·
Right to
alienate of transfer
·
Right to lease
·
Right to sell
·
Right to income
accruing from land and landed property
·
Right to develop
and/or redevelop
·
Right to
mortgage it
·
Right to claim
possession and ownership
·
Right to grant
lesser interests and rights
1.
RIGHT TO LAWFUL
POSSESSION
One
of the rights which an owner of land and/or landed property enjoys from its
ownership is the right to lawful and actual possession.
An
owner of land and/or landed property who has acquired a land and/or landed
property legitimately from the appropriate source, has an exclusive right to
take actual and lawful possession without any fear of been ejected or dispossessed
from doing so.
In
the event of any government acquisition exercise, the owner of such land and/or
landed property will be entitled to adequate compensation for the exclusive
right of lawful possession which has been taken from him/her in such
circumstance.
2.
RIGHT TO
ALIENATE OR TRANSFER
Another
right which an owner of land and/or landed property has over its ownership status
is the right to alienate or transfer the land and/or landed property to his
children, wife/husband, immediate family or any other person he/she so desires
to alienate or transfer the land and/or landed property to.
What
is only required from the owner of such land and/or landed property in
transferring or alienating the land and/or landed property in question is a
well written, signed and stamped document which specifically spells out who the
land and/or landed property is been transferred or alienated to by the right
owner.
3.
RIGHT TO LEASE
This
is one of the most common types of rights which an owner of land and/or landed
property enjoys from its ownership. It is commonly found among property
investors who owns residential and commercial land and/or landed properties
that are leased out to prospective clients in need/demand of such class of land
and/or landed property.
What
the right indicates is that an owner of land and/or landed property has the
exclusive right to lease out his land and/or landed property for tenancy or
leasehold purpose in consideration for money paid in form of rent.
In
exercising his right to lease the land and/or landed property, the owner
usually employ the services of a professional real estate agent who is given
the mandate and instruction to manage the land and/or landed property as well as
accept rent paying tenants with good characters/beaviours into the property.
4.
RIGHT TO SELL
Another
right which is synonymous to the right to alienate or transfer land and/or
landed property by the owner is the right to sell such land and/or landed
property which he/she enjoys absolute ownership and possession anytime he/she
wishes to do so.
An
owner of land and/or landed property having absolute possession of the land as
well as legitimate/genuine title documents on the land and/or landed property
has the sole right to sell the land and/or landed property anytime he so
desires to do asuch.
The
owner of the land and/or landed property can as well sell at any price he
desires or as been advised by the professional Estate Surveyor and Valuer whom
he has consulted for his/her expertise.
5.
RIGHT TO INCOME
ACCRUING FROM LAND AND/OR LANDED PROPERTY
An
owner of land and/or landed property also has the exclusive right to streams of
income accruing from the land and/or landed property which he has absolute
possession and ownership claim of.
The
streams of income accruing to owner of the land and/or landed property may be
in form of leasehold, sales or development of the land and/or landed property.
6.
RIGHT TO DEVELOP
AND/OR REDEVELOP
What
an owner of land and/or landed property can also do from owning land and/or
landed property is the right to develop or re-develop the land and/or landed
property anytime he/she wishes to do so.
An
owner of a bare land can for instance develop such land into different classes
of built-up structures based on the need and demand for that type of structure.
Such developed built-up structures may be in the form of residential
accommodations, commercial and recreational structures.
Another
scenario is a situation whereby the owner of land and/or landed property due the
right he has on the ownership of such land and/or landed property redevelops it
either to enable it meets up with the current building standard or modifies it
into something different entirely.
7.
RIGHT TO
MORTGAGE
The
owner of land and/or landed property also has the exclusive right to mortgage
his/her land and/or landed property with a mortgage or financial institution in
consideration for loan advancement.
The
land and/or landed property which an owner has mortgaged will serve as collateral
for the loan advancement which he/she is seeking from the mortgage or financial
institution.
The
mortgaged land and/or landed property will revert back to the rightful owner
once the loan instrument has been offset with the mortgage or financial
institution by the owner.
8.
RIGHT TO CLAIM
POSSESSION AND OWNERSHIP
The
owner of land and/or landed property also has an exclusive right to claim
possession and ownership from illegal occupants of such land and/or landed
property.
In
claiming possession or ownership of the land and/or landed property back from
illegal occupants, the rightful owner will need to tender all his title
documents legally tenable in any court of law which specifically indicate and reveal
that the claimant is the rightful owner of such land and/or landed property in
question.
9.
RIGHT TO GRANT
LESSER INTERESTS AND RIGHTS
The
other right which an owner of land and/or landed property also enjoys from such
ownership is the right to grant lesser interests and rights on his/her land
and/or landed property with some specified restrictions indicating the
obligations of enjoying such rights and interests for whom it is granted by the
actual owner.
Some
of the lesser rights and interests which can be granted by an owner of land
and/or landed property are: easement, license, profit aprendre, way leaves,
covenants, etc.
I
hope with all these explanations above, you are in a good position to know the
various propriety rights you can enjoy from owning land and/or landed property.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Adeniyi Akinjiyan is a
Higher National Diploma (HND) holder of Estate Management from the prestigious
Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state, Nigeria. He possesses a
Professional Practice Certificate in Estate Surveying and Valuation from the
Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).
He is the principal
consultant of Aakient Consultants Ltd, a highly progressive and consolidated
property and construction project management company, which is committed to
providing the highest level of professional services in meeting clients’ real
estate needs.
Feel free to contact
him at: aakientconsultants@gmail.com
