Williams & Glyn's Bank Ltd v Boland [1981] AC 487

Facts

• The case involved two consolidated appeals concerning wives who had contributed financially to the purchase of family homes.
• Legal title to each property was held solely in the husbands' names.
• The husbands mortgaged the properties to Williams & Glyn’s Bank without informing their wives or obtaining their consent.
• Upon the husbands’ default, the bank sought possession of the houses.
• The wives, who resided in the properties, claimed beneficial interests arising from their financial contributions and asserted they were in actual occupation.
• The main legal question was whether these interests, combined with actual occupation, were overriding interests under the Land Registration Act 1925, taking priority over the bank’s registered charge.

Issues

1. Whether a spouse’s beneficial interest in the matrimonial home, coupled with actual occupation, constitutes an overriding interest under the Land Registration Act 1925.
2. Whether actual occupation, for the purposes of overriding interests, requires more than the ordinary physical presence on the property.
3. Whether a purchaser or lender is obligated to make reasonable inquiries to identify occupants with unregistered interests that may override registered title.

Decision

• The House of Lords held that the wives’ beneficial interests, combined with their actual occupation, amounted to overriding interests under section 70(1)(g) of the Land Registration Act 1925.
• The court determined that “actual occupation” should be interpreted according to its plain meaning, requiring only physical presence on the land.
• It was held that a wife's occupation was to be treated separately and could not be subsumed within her husband's possession or interest.
• Consequently, the bank’s registered charge was subject to the wives’ overriding interests, preventing it from enforcing possession against them without considering those interests.
• The decision emphasized that purchasers and lenders cannot rely solely on the register but must also make reasonable inquiries into who is in occupation of the property.

Legal Principles

• Overriding interests operate to protect certain unregistered proprietary rights, especially where the right-holder is in actual occupation.
• Actual occupation, under the Land Registration Act 1925, is defined by the ordinary meaning of physical presence, and does not require any adversarial or legal entitlement.
• The rights of a non-legal owner in actual occupation may bind a purchaser even if not entered on the register.
• The Land Registration Act 2002 modified these concepts, requiring discoverability of the occupation for the interest to override, but actual occupation remains a central requirement.
• Subsequent case law clarified the necessity for purchasers to conduct reasonable inspections to identify possible overriding interests.

Conclusion

Williams & Glyn’s Bank v Boland established that beneficial interests coupled with actual occupation create overriding interests, binding purchasers and lenders even where such interests are not registered. The decision fundamentally impacted land transactions by clarifying that actual occupation, not just registered title, can confer binding proprietary rights, and shaped the due diligence required in property dealings under both the 1925 and 2002 Land Registration Acts.