Understanding Joint Tenancy and Tenancy in Common in Land Law

LAND LAW

Table of Contents
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REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

MAIN BODY
1.
Tenancy refers to a kind of ownership of property. In other words it means a tenant is
permitted to inhabit a certain property from another person by signing a rent agreement or a
lease. The agreement acknowledges the rights, duties and roles of both the landlord and the
tenant. Similarly, a joint tenancy is where two or more individuals shares an ownership right
over a property1. According to the English law it consists of two types that is joint tenancy and
tenancy in common. A joint tenancy is a kind of ownership where each parties have equal
ownership rights of the property in other words each individual has 100% stake in the property
which means they own the property as a whole. According to the law everyone acts as a single
owner together.
It also states that as a joint tenant, the ownership rights cannot be transferred or inherited
to other person that is if one of the tenant dies or leaves the part of the property then
automatically the property will be transferred to the other partners and tenants as the right of
survivorship2. Mostly these type of tenancy is used by the married couples who owns property
together. On the other hand, tenancy in common, each person has its own separate share of
property that differs in size from person to person. This type of ownership is mainly used by
relatives and friends who are willing to by buy property together. According to the law, it states
that the rights and shares of tenant under tenancy in common can be transferred and inherited by
others without make an agreement void. There has been reforms in the severance of joint tenancy
that is now joint tenancy can be converted into tenancy in common3. That is though various
means it can be done like by apply an application in court, by implied or expressed agreement
between the joint tenants or by granting life interest in the property to third person. With these
1
Puspa Liza, Ghazali, and Osmani Noor Mohammad. "Application of hibah umra and ruqba in
joint tenancy with right of survivorship: an analysis." (2018): 1-8.
2 Hutcheson, Joel. "Say What You Mean! How Arkansas Courts Are Contradicting the Default
Rule of Tenancy in Common." (2019).
3 Orth, John V. "Termination of tenancy in common by adverse possession: A comparative lesson
from the United States." ADELAIDE LAW REVIEW 40, no. 2 (2019): 609-614.