The basic rights over land are:

• Ownership:
  This is the most important relationship between a person and land. It gives the owner the greatest rights over land - including the right to:
  • use it to its full potential
  • dispose of it or sell it
  • use it as security for a loan
  • exclude its use by others

• Lease:
  A lease is a contract whereby land is let to or hired by a person other than the owner for a specified period of time. A lease for ten years or more is a "long lease" and must be registered.

• Servitude:
  A right vested in one person of deriving some advantage from another's property. There are two types:
  • Praedial:
    A servitude which operates in favour of the owner of a piece of land and which cannot be separated from that land, and

  • Personal:
    A servitude in favour of a person or body who need not own any land.

• Sub-Surface Rights:
  The rights to any minerals on a property may be included in the ownership of the property, or may be completely separated from the ownership of the land.