Talk:Hereditament

I've seen this used in a countable sense, talking of "two hereditaments [within an area]". It would be good to have info about the countable sense - obviously it is something similar to each parcel of land, but do for example two adjacent hereditaments merge into each other? Morwen - Talk 09:31, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

In the UK, "hereditament" is particularly used in rating (i.e. local government taxes on property occupation):

1) A hereditament is defined in Section 115(1) General Rate Act 1967 as:- “property which is or may become liable to a rate being a unit of such property which is or would fall to be shown as a separate item in the valuation list”;

2) "The term “hereditament” refers to a property that would form a separate entry in a rating list", and

3) A hereditament is "a contiguous whole, in single occupation".

In classic rating law, there are four tests for a rateable occupier, who must have actual, beneficial, exclusive and "timely" occupancy. So, to answer your question, it is possible to have more than one hereditament within an area, but a single occupier of contiguous/adjacent hereditaments can appeal to have these listed as a single hereditament. An example might be an occupier which occupies multiple floors in the same building: these can be listed as separate items in the Rating List, or merged into a single hereditament. Hope that helps.

Franchise?
What does "franchise" mean on this page? (The link on this page is to a disambiguation page). Please see Jurisdiction which reads in part "In the history of English common law, a jurisdiction could be held as a form of property (or more precisely an incorporeal hereditament) called a franchise". Is that what it means? If so I'll add it to the dismabiguation page. Ewlyahoocom 12:01, 5 April 2006 (UTC)