Business property 429The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 now gives all businesses a
statutory right to claim interest on late payment of commercial debts for the supply of
goods and services. The rate of interest is currently set at 8 per cent above the base rate. The
base rate is the official rate of interest set by the Bank of England once a month. It is not the
rate used by commercial lenders, who usually charge a higher rate.
Business property
Legal concepts of property
The common law categorises all property as either real property or personal property.
Real property is made up of all freehold interests in land. Personal property is made up
of all other property, including leases of land. Although leases of land are classed as
personal property rather than as real property, the reasons for this are historical. Most
businesses would regard freehold and leasehold interests in land as much the same type
of property.
Personal property is classed as either chattels real or chattels personal. Chattels real
consist of leases of land. Chattels personal consist of all the remaining types of personal
property. Chattels personal are divided into things in possession, things in action and
intellectual property rights. Things in possession are movable things of which physical
possession can be taken, for example machines or books. Things in action are intangible
rights which can be enforced only by taking legal action, for example debts. Intellectual
property rights, such as copyright or patents, are a separate class of intangible property
rights.
The different types of property can be seen in Figure 16.3.
Most people are familiar with the nature of land and goods, so we need investigate only
the nature of intellectual property rights.
Figure 16.3The legal classification of property