Title to land in England & Wales is governed largely by the Land Registration Act 2002, although there are pockets of unregistered title. This research stream focuses on both the policy and the detail of the Land Registration Act 2002 and incorporates comparative analysis of systems in other jurisdictions such as the Torrens systems in Australia and New Zealand. Members of the Centre are currently engaged in assessing potential reforms of the 2002 Act and are advising land registries in other jurisdictions about the development of title systems. In 2016-2018, Martin Dixon, Emma Lees and Amy Goymour acted as advisers to the Law Commission in respect of their project, Updating the Land Registration Act 2002. In 2019, members of the Centre contributed to a volume of essays on aspects of world wide title systems, to be published as New Horizons for Torrens (2020), edited by Grindlinton and Thomas (Centre Fellow). The Centre welcomes proposals for collaborative research and can provide expert advice.

The relationship of landlord and tenant is one of the most common, and most complex, relationships in common law systems. The Centre is engaged in research covering all aspects of this relationship: residential and business tenancies; public and private sector landlords; agricultural tenancies. Members of the Centre have been engaged in professional practice as well as academia and welcome research proposals from governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Property law does not exist in a vacuum and this research stream combines the legal with the practical, with special focus on the environmental and social impact of the way land ownership is organised. Members of the Centre have expertise in environmental regulation of land use and the development of environmental policy. A particular speciality concerns the constitutional and legal implications of indigenous land issues and the rights of peoples to sovereignty and enjoyment of territory.

Land law is not sterile nor static. It responds to the way people actually use land and how society views land use and land ownership. This research stream analyses how the law responds to, and shapes, land use and how economic and social policies interact with legal principles.