Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996

Settlements and trusts for sale as trusts of land

2Trusts in place of settlements

(1)No settlement created after the commencement of this Act is a settlement for the purposes of the [1925 c. 18.] Settled Land Act 1925; and no settlement shall be deemed to be made under that Act after that commencement.

(2)Subsection (1) does not apply to a settlement created on the occasion of an alteration in any interest in, or of a person becoming entitled under, a settlement which—

(a)is in existence at the commencement of this Act, or

(b)derives from a settlement within paragraph (a) or this paragraph.

(3)But a settlement created as mentioned in subsection (2) is not a settlement for the purposes of the Settled Land Act 1925 if provision to the effect that it is not is made in the instrument, or any of the instruments, by which it is created.

(4)Where at any time after the commencement of this Act there is in the case of any settlement which is a settlement for the purposes of the Settled Land Act 1925 no relevant property which is, or is deemed to be, subject to the settlement, the settlement permanently ceases at that time to be a settlement for the purposes of that Act.

In this subsection “relevant property” means land and personal chattels to which section 67(1) of the Settled Land Act 1925 (heirlooms) applies.

(5)No land held on charitable, ecclesiastical or public trusts shall be or be deemed to be settled land after the commencement of this Act, even if it was or was deemed to be settled land before that commencement.

(6)Schedule 1 has effect to make provision consequential on this section (including provision to impose a trust in circumstances in which, apart from this section, there would be a settlement for the purposes of the Settled Land Act 1925 (and there would not otherwise be a trust)).

3Abolition of doctrine of conversion

(1)Where land is held by trustees subject to a trust for sale, the land is not to be regarded as personal property; and where personal property is subject to a trust for sale in order that the trustees may acquire land, the personal property is not to be regarded as land.

(2)Subsection (1) does not apply to a trust created by a will if the testator died before the commencement of this Act.

(3)Subject to that, subsection (1) applies to a trust whether it is created, or arises, before or after that commencement.

4Express trusts for sale as trusts of land

(1)In the case of every trust for sale of land created by a disposition there is to be implied, despite any provision to the contrary made by the disposition, a power for the trustees to postpone sale of the land; and the trustees are not liable in any way for postponing sale of the land, in the exercise of their discretion, for an indefinite period.

(2)Subsection (1) applies to a trust whether it is created, or arises, before or after the commencement of this Act.

(3)Subsection (1) does not affect any liability incurred by trustees before that commencement.

5Implied trusts for sale as trusts of land

(1)Schedule 2 has effect in relation to statutory provisions which impose a trust for sale of land in certain circumstances so that in those circumstances there is instead a trust of the land (without a duty to sell).

(2)Section 1 of the [1925 c. 18.] Settled Land Act 1925 does not apply to land held on any trust arising by virtue of that Schedule (so that any such land is subject to a trust of land).