To understand the difference between Real Estate and Land we note, by definition: “’Land’ is not restricted to the earth’s surface, but extends below and above the surface. Nor is it confined to solids, but may encompass within its bounds such things as gases and liquids. A definition of ‘land’ along the lines of ‘a mass of physical matter occupying a space’ also is not sufficient, for an owner of land may remove part or all of that physical matter, as by digging it up and carrying away the soil, but would nevertheless retain as part of his ‘land’ the space that remains. Ultimately, as a juristic concept, ‘land’ is simply an area of three dimensional space, its position being defined by natural or imaginary points located by reference to the earth’s surface. ‘Land’ is not the fixed contents of that space, although, as we shall see, the owner of that space may well own those fixed contents. Land is immoveable, as distinct from chattels, which are moveable; it is also, in its legal significance, indestructible. The contents of the space may be physically severed, destroyed or consumed, but the space itself, and so the ‘land’, remains immutable.” Peter Butt, Land Law 9 (2nd ed. 1988)
Land Patents secure two separate kinds of property rights: appurtenant rights and hereditary rights; which two types of rights also include two separate kinds of property: tangible property (Real Estate) and intangible property (Land).
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