Superficies is a Latinlegal term referring to anything which is placed upon and attached to the ground, and most commonly refers to a building erected on land owned by another.
Under Roman law, ownership of a building was considered inseparable from ownership of the land beneath it. A person with the right to use the land for a superficies, known as a superficarius, enjoyed a right to use the superficies, bequeath it to his heirs and encumber it, despite not "owning" it outright. The right was known as a Jus Superficiarium.[1]
Countries of European Union
Under the headline of Building Leases, a report on Real Property Law within the European Union describes separate statutory rights in rem called rights of superficie, bail à construction, building leases, or Erbbaurecht, which entitle to full ownership of buildings erected on (including above or below) foreign ground for long periods.[2]
The Netherlands
The right of superficies is a real property right which enables its proprietor - the superficiary - to have or obtain for himself buildings, constructions or plants in, on or above an immovable thing owned by someone else (Article 5:101 (1) Dutch Civil Code). .. .. A right of superficies may in addition serve to obtain the ownership of pipes, cables and tubes under or above someone else's land.[3]
Romanian law
A new Civil Code of Romania defines Superficies as follows: the right to have or to erect a building on someone other's land, above or under ground of that land, on which the superficiary acquires a right of use (art. 693).[4]
Japanese law
Japanese law provides for a similar right, known as chijōken (地上権, lit. "above-ground rights") in Japanese and officially translated as "superficies".
The right is defined under Article 265 of the Civil Code as the right to use the land of another for the purpose of owning buildings, trees or bamboo. A superficies is not limited to these purposes however. For example, subway companies in Japan obtain a superficies for their right to travel under properties belonging to others.
A superficies may also be created by operation of law when a mortgage is foreclosed. If the foreclosure leads to the land and building(s) thereon falling under separate ownership, but the land and building(s) were owned by the same person when the mortgage was created, then a "statutory superficies" (法定地上権, hōtei chijōken) is automatically created to facilitate separate ownership of the building(s).
Unlike a land lease, a superficies is considered to be a property right, can be indefinite in duration, imposes no upkeep obligations on the landowner, and is freely transferable without the landowner's consent. The rights and obligations of the parties are primarily determined by the contents of the superficies agreement.
Thai law
Superficies in Thailand is a legal right that allows a person to own buildings or structures on land they do not own. This concept is rooted in Roman law and was later adopted into the Thai Civil and Commercial Code. The purpose of superficies is to promote land use and development without transferring land ownership. This right can be granted through a written agreement and registered at the Land Office, typically lasting up to 30 years or for the lifetime of the owner. Superficies is commonly used in Thailand for long-term property investments, providing security for developers while maintaining land ownership with the original landowner.
In common law and statutory law, a life estate is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death, when the property rights may revert to the original owner or to another person. The owner of a life estate is called a "life tenant". The person who will take over the rights upon death is said to have a "remainder" interest and is known as a "remainderman".
A condominium is an ownership regime in which a building is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual owners. These individual units are surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned and managed by the owners of the units. The term can be applied to the building or complex itself, and is sometimes applied to individual units. The term "condominium" is mostly used in the US and Canada, but similar arrangements are used in many other countries under different names.
An estate in land is, in the law of England and Wales, an interest in real property that is or may become possessory. It is a type of personal property and encompasses land ownership, rental and other arrangements that give people the right to use land. This is distinct from sovereignty over the land, which includes the right to government and taxation.
Adverse possession in common law, and the related civil law concept of usucaption, are legal mechanisms under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property, usually real property, may acquire legal ownership based on continuous possession or occupation without the permission (licence) of its legal owner.
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a leasehold estate is typically considered personal property.
In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land "owned" by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individuals. It determines who can use land, for how long and under what conditions. Tenure may be based both on official laws and policies, and on informal local customs. In other words, land tenure implies a system according to which land is held by an individual or the actual tiller of the land but this person does not have legal ownership. It determines the holder's rights and responsibilities in connection with their holding. The sovereign monarch, known in England as the Crown, held land in its own right. All land holders are either its tenants or sub-tenants. Tenure signifies a legal relationship between tenant and lord, arranging the duties and rights of tenant and lord in relationship to the land. Over history, many different forms of land tenure, i.e., ways of holding land, have been established.
Usufruct is a limited real right found in civil law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of usus and fructus:
The bundle of rights is a metaphor to explain the complexities of property ownership. Law school professors of introductory property law courses frequently use this conceptualization to describe "full" property ownership as a partition of various entitlements of different stakeholders.
Hypothec, sometimes tacit hypothec, is a term used in civil law systems or to refer to a registered real security of a creditor over real estate, but under some jurisdictions it may additionally cover ships only, as opposed to other collaterals, including corporeal movables other than ships, securities or intangible assets such intellectual property rights, covered by a different type of right (pledge). Common law has two main equivalents to the term: mortgages and non-possessory lien.
Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos is a principle of property law, stating that property holders have rights not only to the plot of land itself, but also the air above and the ground below. The principle is often referred to in its abbreviated form as the ad coelum doctrine.
As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece of land is sold on a long lease or leases. The ground rent provides an income for the landowner. In economics, ground rent is a form of economic rent meaning all value accruing to titleholders as a result of the exclusive ownership of title privilege to location.
Trespass to land, also called trespass to realty or trespass to real property, or sometimes simply trespass, is a common law tort or a crime that is committed when an individual or the object of an individual intentionally enters the land of another without a lawful excuse. Trespass to land is actionable per se. Thus, the party whose land is entered upon may sue even if no actual harm is done. In some jurisdictions, this rule may also apply to entry upon public land having restricted access. A court may order payment of damages or an injunction to remedy the tort.
Canadian property law, or property law in Canada, is the body of law concerning the rights of individuals over land, objects, and expression within Canada. It encompasses personal property, real property, and intellectual property. The laws vary between local municipal levels, up to provincial and then a countrywide federal level of government. And the form of purchase can vary from sale to different types of leases, whilst transactions can be made through a physical paper form or digitally for the acquisition of property in Canada's ten provinces and three territories.
An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a property right and type of incorporeal property in itself at common law in most jurisdictions.
Scots property law governs the rules relating to property found in the legal jurisdiction of Scotland.
The Civil Code of the Republic of Korea was passed in 1958 as Law No. 471 and is known in South Korea as one of the three fundamental laws, the other two being Criminal law and constitution. It is made up of five parts, Part I, Part II, Part III (claims), Part IV (relatives), and Part V (inheritance).
Flying freehold is an English legal term to describe a freehold which overhangs or underlies another freehold. Common cases include a room situated above a shared passageway in a semi-detached house, or a balcony which extends over a neighbouring property.
English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal system established by William the Conqueror after 1066, but is now mostly registered and sold on the real estate market. The modern law's sources derive from the old courts of common law and equity, and legislation such as the Law of Property Act 1925, the Settled Land Act 1925, the Land Charges Act 1972, the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 and the Land Registration Act 2002. At its core, English land law involves the acquisition, content and priority of rights and obligations among people with interests in land. Having a property right in land, as opposed to a contractual or some other personal right, matters because it creates priority over other people's claims, particularly if the land is sold on, the possessor goes insolvent, or when claiming various remedies, like specific performance, in court.
South African property law regulates the "rights of people in or over certain objects or things." It is concerned, in other words, with a person's ability to undertake certain actions with certain kinds of objects in accordance with South African law. Among the formal functions of South African property law is the harmonisation of individual interests in property, the guarantee and protection of individual rights with respect to property, and the control of proprietary management relationships between persons, as well as their rights and obligations. The protective clause for property rights in the Constitution of South Africa stipulates those proprietary relationships which qualify for constitutional protection. The most important social function of property law in South Africa is to manage the competing interests of those who acquire property rights and interests. In recent times, restrictions on the use of and trade in private property have been on the rise.
In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, refers to parcels of land and any associated structures which are the property of a person. For a structure to be considered part of the real property, it must be integrated with or affixed to the land. This includes crops, buildings, machinery, wells, dams, ponds, mines, canals, and roads. The term is historic, arising from the now-discontinued form of action, which distinguished between real property disputes and personal property disputes. Personal property, or personalty, was, and continues to be, all property that is not real property.
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