{"id":4689,"date":"2016-09-26T09:54:05","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T09:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplylaw.waydevelopers.com\/england-wales\/wiki\/disputes-between-surface-owners-and-ground-owners\/"},"modified":"2023-09-12T16:29:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T16:29:02","slug":"disputes-between-surface-owners-and-ground-owners","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/simply.law\/england-wales\/articles\/disputes-between-surface-owners-and-ground-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Mineral Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legal title documents sometimes contain historic rights which appear to bear little or no relation to modern life. It is common to find conveyances dated in the 19th<\/sup> and early 20th<\/sup> centuries which contain exceptions and reservations of mines and minerals.<\/p>\n

Law textbooks tell us that ownership of land includes ownership of the airspace above ground level, and also the soil underneath it.<\/p>\n

There is a distinction between \u201csurface owners\u201d and \u201cground owners\u201d.\u00a0 Rights to a piece of land (belonging to the surface owner) and to the minerals that are beneath it (belonging to the ground owner) can be owned by different people.\u00a0 It is not easy to find out who the ground owners are, and disputes related to this area can sometimes lead to developers facing trespass claims.<\/p>\n

Star Energy UK Onshore Ltd\u00a0 v Bocardo SA [2009] EWCA Civ 579<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the case of Star Energy UK Onshore Ltd\u00a0 v Bocardo SA [2009] EWCA Civ 579, the Court of Appeal confirmed the existence of an actionable trespass onto land by an oil company, Star Energy, when the company, who were extracting oil and gas at a level of 800ft below sea level, drilled wells close to the boundary of Bocardo\u2019s estate and included pipelines passing beneath Bocardo\u2019s land.\u00a0 Despite the depth of the incursion the court confirmed that there was an actionable trespass.\u00a0 Damages were therefore awarded.<\/p>\n

The relevance to property developers is that the Court of Appeal confirmed in this case that an incursion below ground level is as much a trespass as an incursion on, or above, the ground.<\/p>\n

The LPA 1925 defines \u201cland\u201d as including \u201cland of any tenure, and mines and minerals, whether or not held apart from the surface\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The presumption is therefore that that mines and minerals are vested in the registered or unregistered proprietor. \u00a0However, if there has been a mineral severance (where the mines and minerals or the rights to obtain the same have become vested in someone else) this presumption is rebutted.<\/p>\n

There are four situations in which mineral rights can be severed.\u00a0 These are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The rights are sold \u2013 the rights can be sold by a freehold owner separately from the land itself.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  2. They belong to someone else due to statute \u2013 e.g. oil, gas, coal, gold and silver are vested in the Crown.<\/li>\n
  3. Custom and practice \u2013 this is the case in parts of Cornwall, Derbyshire and the Forest of Dean.<\/li>\n
  4. Manorial Rights \u2013 these are feudal rights retained by the Lord of the Manor who has previously not sold a freehold to a piece of land but a \u201ccopyhold\u201d, which ensures some rights are retained.\u00a0 These include mineral rights.\u00a0 These rights will disappear the next time land is sold unless they are protected by registration against the surface owner\u2019s title.\u00a0 Rather unhelpfully, the Land Registry has said that they will continue to register notices to protect manorial rights even after an acquisition for value.\u00a0 The registered owner must object and apply to remove the notice.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Mineral owners are becoming increasingly assertive at claiming trespass for any foundation works, service installation or road building.\u00a0 Due to this developers need to consider mineral ownership in every development.<\/p>\n

    There are specific searches which should be carried out prior to purchasing land for development and legal advice should be sought in relation to these and in relation to getting indemnities from sellers or title insurance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Simply.Law\u2019s commercial litigation specialists can help you uphold your rights in the event of a mineral rights dispute related to surface ownership and ground ownership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":7975,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12328],"tags":[10752,10753,8949,9085,10754,10757,8773,10756,10758,10755,10735,8776,10750,10751],"class_list":{"0":"post-4689","1":"articles","2":"type-articles","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-disputes-litigation","8":"tag-airspace","9":"tag-crown","10":"tag-developers","11":"tag-disputes","12":"tag-energy","13":"tag-foundation-works","14":"tag-legal-advice","15":"tag-manorial-rights","16":"tag-mineral-ownership","17":"tag-onshore","18":"tag-ownership","19":"tag-rights","20":"tag-surface-owners-and-ground-owners","21":"tag-trespass-claims"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnderstanding Mineral Rights - Simply Law England Wales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Explore our comprehensive collection of legal articles covering various topics to help you navigate the complexities of the law. 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