Living in a policy state: From trust for sale to trust of land

The Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 has transformed the nature of co-ownership interests in land. The trust for sale, which governed dealings in co-owned property under the Law of Property Act 1925, and which made sale the presumptive object of co-ownership, has been replaced by a trust of land, under which co-owners retain an interest in the land itself, rather than its capital value. This article considers the likely impact of this legislative policy departure, particularly in relation to the court's willingness to grant an order for the sale of co-owned property on application by a creditor, and against the wishes of a non-debtor co-owner occupier. © 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers.