Question 1
Two applications for State land come before the Collector on the same morning. The first is from a manufacturing company which wants a cleared parcel in an industrial estate for a purpose-built plant, and which has said in its covering letter that it needs the longest term available to justify the capital cost. The second is from the owner of an adjoining freehold plot in a residential area, who has applied for a narrow residual strip left over when the road was realigned in the 1970s. The strip cannot be built on by itself, has no frontage of its own, and is wanted so that a single development can be put up across it and his own land together.
Which statement is correct?
Show the answer and full explanation
Answer: B
The rule. The title ordinarily issued for State land is a lease of not less than ten years and not more than ninety-nine. There is one exception: where the land cannot be developed independently and is required for development together with the applicant's adjoining land, the title issued may match the title of that adjoining land.
Why B is correct. The company falls within the ordinary rule. The residual strip is exactly the case the exception is written for — it cannot be built on alone and is wanted for amalgamation.
The other options.
- A applies the ordinary rule to both and misses the exception.
- C removes the ceiling entirely.
- D invents a ceiling for the company that has no basis and applies the ordinary one to the strip.
Exam note. The floor is as real as the ceiling: not less than ten years. Candidates remember ninety-nine and forget that a State lease of five years is not the ordinary form either.