Statutory Definitions

Common land has been subject to numerous statutes over time, but despite this there is not a simple or uniform statutory definition of common land; for example, when 19th and 20th century statutes defined common land, it was often for a specific legal purpose (for enclosure, regulation, preservation or registration), and this purpose tended to determine the classes of lands involved.

The Commons Registration Act 1965 is often regarded as the first definitive statute, and when we talk of common land today, we often mean registered common land. It defines common land as land subject to rights of common and waste land (Fact Sheet 2 section 2.3) which is not subject to rights of common. Common rights were expressed to include sole rights. Certain common lands were exempted from the 1965 Act, and the registers include lands which might not have been considered common previously – for more information refer to Fact Sheet 4 Registration. The Commons Act 2006 does not redefine common land but applies to land regarded as common under the 1965 Act. Part I of the Act applies to all common land in England other than Epping Forest and the Forest of Dean.