Accession
Accession
Accession
Walter Pereira – this is the process by which one thing accedes or becomes
added to or incorporated with another in such a way that it is regarded as forming
part and parcel of the latter and becomes by such process, the property of the
owner of the same.
Balasingham states that accession comprises the following modes of acquisition –
3. Compensation has been allowed in cases where a person who improves the
land under an inoperative planning agreement with the owner is sought to
be evicted later by the owner or subsequent transferee
Saibo v Baba – A planter was held to have been entitled to retain
possession of a well dug by him until he was compensated. A lessee who
makes improvements with the consent of the lessor is entitled to
compensation, though perhaps not to retention. But a planter who is
admitted to be entitled to a “planter’s share” is not in the same precarious
position as a lessee. He has a sufficient interest in the land to constitute him
a bona fide possessor in respect of improvements outside the actual
planting.
2. Improver’s belief in good faith is not sufficient, such belief must be based
on reasonable grounds
Anglo-Ceylon and General Tea Estates Co. v Abusalie – before a person can
claim compensation for improvements effected upon a land on the ground
that he made the improvements as a bona fide possessor of the land he
must show that he had reasonable or probable grounds to think that he
had some right of ownership in the land.
Right of Removal
Ius Tollendi – a person who possesses or holds a thing belonging to
another, particularly an immovable, and makes some improvements
thereon has, under certain conditions, the right to take them away
provided that the object suffers no damage by such operation. Ius Tollendi
is a permissible alternative to compensation only in circumstances where
its exercise provides both a physically and legally practicable remedy.
Baschof v R. & S. Syndicate – the nature of the improvement must be such
that it is capable of removal without damage to the land
Fletcher & Fletcher v Bulawayo Water Works Co. – after detachment of
the improvement from the land, the minerals, in that condition must be of
potential value to the improver
Nzannah v Uitenhage Town Council – if removal affects the rights of third
parties, the improver is entitled to insist on compensation