Lecture 07 - Co-ownership (Audio)

Principles of Land Law (in English)

This week's podcast looks at the law on co-ownership. An interest in land is often owned by several people together. For example, a flat might be co-owned by a husband and wife. The members of a business partnership might co-own land used by or for the business. Hong Kong apartment complexes are co-owned by all the flat-owners. Co-ownership can either take the form of a joint tenancy or of a tenancy in common. This podcast explains these forms of co-ownership and the differences between them. It also looks at the process by which a joint tenancy can be turned into a tenancy in common. This is known as severance. Finally, it looks at the rights of co-owners to apply for partition of the co-owned land. Partition involves the legal division of the land into smaller physical areas. The courts can also be asked to order the sale of co-owned land and the division of the proceeds of sale between the co-owners.