Land Law:
William is the registered proprietor of Abbey Farm, Bridgwater, Somerset, a property comprising a large house, an outbuilding, a barn, a field, and a meadow. When William bought Abbey Farm in 2004 for £650,000, his partner, Julia, paid the 10% deposit. Subsequently, William entered into the following arrangements:
(a) in April 2011, he granted Henry a lease of the outbuilding for a term of six years;
(b) in May 2012, he entered into a written agreement which was called a licence for the grant to Lynne of a four-year licence of the meadow at a monthly payment of £100 for the purpose of grazing sheep;
(c) in June 2013, he orally granted a tenancy to Timothy of the barn from 1 June 2013 to 30 April 2016, Timothy paying the sum of £1,000 and a rent of £5,000 a year;
(d) in January 2014, he borrowed £20,000 from his brother, Simon, who was to take a legal charge over Abbey Farm to secure the loan, Mark, a sole practitioner in Bridgwater, being the solicitor acting for Simon.
The following events have occurred.
During February 2014, Mark’s offices were flooded and all files lost.
The relationship between William and Julia has always been volatile. Three weeks ago, following an argument with William over his intention to apply for a mortgage, Julia grabbed a few personal items and stormed out of Abbey Farm and has gone to her mother’s house in Taunton.
Two weeks ago, William applied for and has now been offered a loan from the Loamshire Building Society (LBS) of £200,000 to be secured by a first charge over Abbey Farm. On the LBS application form, William forgot to mention the loan from Simon, and stated that he lived alone.
William’s solicitor, Charlotte (who did not act for William in the loan from Simon and has no knowledge of that matter), acts for William and LBS in connection with the mortgage and has obtained from the Land Registry an official copy of the register of the title to Abbey Farm which shows no entries in the Register concerning any legal charge.
Assuming no entries are made on the register of the title to Abbey Farm between the date of the official copy and the completion of LBS’s legal charge, explain, applying the relevant case and statute law in each instance, whether or not the interests of Julia, Henry, Lynne, Timothy and Simon would be binding upon LBS on the completion of its charge over Abbey Farm.