Property law

1. What land is particularly significant for you? It might be your current home, a previous home, a beach, bushland, a mountain etc.

2. Consider these questions in preparation for reading Alexander et al, "A Statement of Progressive Property" (2009) 94(4) Cornell Law Review 743-4. These questions will give you concrete examples of the ideas the authors are discussing. You don't need to write down answers to every question, but at least think about what is being asked. Come to your tutorial prepared to discuss the questions that interested (or confused you) the most.

Should everyone be able to own property or only some people? Only men, only people of particular ethnicity, earning capacity, citizens or residents? Should property be owned individually or collectively? Is it essential to own property or only some kinds of property? Should people simply be free to buy property if they so choose or does the government have an obligation to use property, tax or other law to ensure that property ownership is equally distributed across the community? Should we have tax policies that encourage people who have more than one home to buy more? (e.g., 'negative gearing' is a tax policy that allows landlords who make a loss (the rent they earn is less than their expenses e.g., interest repayments on loans, maintenance, management fees etc.) to deduct that loss from their income thereby lowering their income tax each year. Who is most likely to benefit from tax deductions?).

Do you think people who own land should be able to do whatever they want on it?e.g. live with whoever they want, invite guests to the land, hold parties whenever they want, paint their house any colour or build anything they want (a high rise building, a factory, a house); put any material on or in the land, including toxic material; should they be allowed to cut down any trees because they are casting unwanted shade or because clearing will allow economic exploitation of the land (e.g., planting crops, grazing animals or running a business etc.).

Should people only be able to have rights to property during their own lifetime? Should people always be free to sell their property and to leave property, including land, to their children? Should they be able to control how land is used after their deaths? If so, for how long?

What rights should landlords and tenants have vis a vis each other and what effect might these rights have on people's lives and our community?e.g., should a landlord be able to refuse to let premises to people with children, give preference to tenants from their own ethnic background or prohibit tenants keeping pets? Should tenants be able to repaint the property or should landlords be required to do so? How long should leases be? 6 months, 10 years or 999 years? In what circumstances should landlords or tenants be allowed to end leases? Should a landlord be able to check the property and how often? Should the law differ depending on the kind of land being leased, e.g., residential, commercial, agricultural?

Who should be able to control someone else's use of land? The government? A landlord? The neighbours? What would justify control and should there be limits on any control?

How did you answer these questions? Did you think about what would be the most economically efficient or financially advantageous outcome in each scenario or did you consider other factors as well? If you considered other factors, what values informed your reasoning? e.g., equality, fairness, sustainability, human dignity, freedom, autonomy?

3. Now read the Alexander et al 'Statement of Progressive Property' and think about the way the principles they describe might guide decisions about the form property law should take.