Understanding The Different Types Of Properties

The word 'property' has many commonly used different meanings, and this article aims to describe some of the more common areas of human activity in which the word is used.

Buildings are probably the most well known form of property. Residential property is the term used to describe homes for people to live in themselves, or to rent out for others to live in. These may take the form or apartments, houses or mansions. Commercial property describes lock-ups, storage facilities, office buildings, factories and other industrial and commercial premises such as ports and refineries. Ecclesiastical property describes structures connected the Church, and these would include churches, abbeys, monasteries and priories as well as church halls and other buildings meant for public use.

Land is another form of property, which is related to buildings, as buildings will in the vast majority of cases be standing on land. Many different types of land ownership have been established over the centuries. Tenure is one such concept which was developed in Feudal times, where the land is actually owned by the reigning sovereign monarch, known as the Crown. All other owners are tenants or sub-tenants of the Crown, and they 'hold' the land. Sharecropping is an agricultural arrangement where the landowner allows a farmer to use their land as a tenant. The farmer pays for the use of the land by giving the landowner a share of the crop they produce, hence the term 'sharecropping'.

In addition to being what most properties are built on, land is also associated with residential property in the form of gardens, fields, orchards, lakes, ponds, swimming pools, paths and drive ways. In many cases the area of such land can be far greater than the area occupied by the associated building or building. There are often disputes in connection with neighbouring owners over who owns particular areas. This is often seen on a small scale with neighbours living in adjoining terraced houses who may argue about a small strip of land between their two properties.

Commercial property will also have land associated with it in addition to the land under the actual building structure. Such land will be in the form of parking areas, walk ways, loading areas, places for storing materials, components and chemicals, and large surfaced structures such as airport runways. As with residential properties, the non-building land associated with commercial properties can be of a much larger area than the land on which the commercial buildings stand themselves.

Intellectual property is the term describing the creations of the human mind such as inventions, products, writings and music. Such creations are often protected because of the fact that they have a commercial value and have involved the investment of time and money to create. There are various measures that are used to protect intellectual property from being stolen or used in an inappropriate way by people with no right to use it. These measures include patents, trademark rights, copyrights, industrial design rights, and trade secrets rights.

By: James JR Robinson

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