Buying and selling property is a complex process, and everyone who does so will use a solicitor who has a broad knowledge of property law so they can navigate the conveyancing process, the exchange of contracts and avoid potential complexities caused by somewhat archaic laws.

The somewhat infamous case of Aston Cantlow Parochial Church v Wallbank highlighted the perils that can occur if somewhat archaic laws, statutes and concepts dating back centuries are ignored.

How far back do solicitors have to go to ensure they are comprehensively taking into account every relevant law that is still in force? Amazingly enough, the answer is 1290.

Forasmuch As The Purchasers

The law in question is Quia Emptores, one of several Statutes of Westminster III and concerns the buying and selling of land.

At the time, land was owned by lords who allowed the peasantry to live on this land in exchange for their labour in what has retrospectively become known as feudalism. As an ancient maxim translated from Norman French put it, “no land without a lord”.

Lords owned the land typically by birthright, having possessed the land through multiple generations, with the eldest living son inheriting the site following the death of the previous lords. 

Other sons would often become under-lords through pledging allegiance in a process known as subinfeudation. However, where this became complicated is that tenants (serfs and peasants) could also sell their land or give it to the Church.

This would ultimately lead to the erosion and later destruction of the feudal system, as the subinfeudation meant that a lord would rule over people who themselves ruled over other people and it became almost impossible to keep track of property rights.

The solution was to eliminate the system entirely, which is what Quia Emptores would achieve. It stopped subtenants from subletting their land in the way that feudal lords could; they had to give up all rights and duties of the land to the buyer in a form of alienation known as substitution.

The End Of Feudalism And The Rise Of Property

During the reign of Edward I, many of the principles of feudalism were eroded and removed. Rather than the right to live on land in exchange for labour and loyalty, people instead paid rent to the landowner or bought it outright.

It was a switch to a system of ownership that was more commercial and financial than it was feudal, which effectively began the concept of buying and selling land as we understand it today.

It has been claimed by historians such as Charles Plummer that it was part of an overall deterioration in the feudal system which led to the War of the Roses.

This is why the sale of property retains the structure that it does, with a contract of sale, conveyancing, an exchange of contracts, registering a transfer of title with the Land Registry and all of the legal statutes built upon it.

Whilst it has been repealed in the Republic of Ireland, Australia and the United States, it is still technically in force today.