31.— (1) Any person having an estate or interest in land which is co-owned whether at law or in equity may apply to the court for an order under this section.

(2) An order under this section includes—

[PA 1868][PA 1876]

(a) an order for partition of the land amongst the co-owners,

(b) an order for the taking of an account of incumbrances affecting the land, if any, and the making of inquiries as to the respective priorities of any such incumbrances,

(c) an order for sale of the land and distribution of the proceeds of sale as the court directs,

[AJA 1707, s. 23]

(d) an order directing that accounting adjustments be made as between the co-owners,

(e) an order dispensing with consent to severance of a joint tenancy as required by section 30 where such consent is being unreasonably withheld,

(f) such other order relating to the land as appears to the court to be just and equitable in the circumstances of the case.

(3) In dealing with an application for an order under subsection (1) the court may—

(a) make an order with or without conditions or other requirements attached to it, or

(b) dismiss the application without making any order, or

(c) combine more than one order under this section.

(4) In this section—

(a) “person having an estate or interest in land” includes a mortgagee or other secured creditor, a judgment mortgagee or a trustee,

(b) “accounting adjustments” include—

(i) payment of an occupation rent by a co-owner who has enjoyed, or is continuing to enjoy, occupation of the land to the exclusion of any other co-owner,

(ii) compensation to be paid by a co-owner to any other co-owner who has incurred disproportionate expenditure in respect of the land (including its repair or improvement),

(iii) contributions by a co-owner to disproportionate payments made by any other co-owner in respect of the land (including payments in respect of charges, rates, rents, taxes and other outgoings payable in respect of it),

(iv) redistribution of rents and profits received by a co-owner disproportionate to his or her interest in the land,

(v) any other adjustment necessary to achieve fairness between the co-owners.

(5) Nothing in this section affects the jurisdiction of the court under the Act of 1976, the Act of 1995 and the Act of 1996.

(6) The equitable jurisdiction of the court to make an order for partition of land which is co-owned whether at law or in equity is abolished.