The key difference between property and premises is that property refers to anything that is owned by a person or an entity whereas premises refer to land and buildings on it.
Property can be either tangible, intangible, movable or immovable. Premises, which generally refers to a building with the land surrounding it, is tangible and immovable property. In legal documents regarding real estate, premises refer to the portion of the property and/or components of it that are the subject of the lease/sale.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What Does Property Mean
3. What Does Premises Mean
4. Relationship Between Property and Premises
5. Side by Side Comparison – Property vs Premises in Tabular Form
6. Summary
What Does Property Means?
Property basically refers to something owned by a person or an entity. This includes money, land, buildings and other tangible things of value as well as intangible things that can be considered as a source or element of income or wealth. There are two main types of property as personal property and real property. Real property includes land, buildings, growing plants, and other fixtures; in other words, these include all immovable property. Personal property, on the other hand, includes all movable property including machinery, goods, and animals. Moreover, intangible items such as stocks, bonds, and intellectual property also come under personal property.
The following section lists some main types of property.
Common property – more than one person has the ownership of the same possession
Community property – joint ownership between husband and wife
Public property – ownership by a governmental body such as the state, county or city governments or their agencies
Commercial property – buildings or land intended to generate a profit, either from capital gain or rental income
Furthermore, the government and the law are obligated to protect property rights and help clarify ownership.
What Does Premises Means?
In legalese, specifically in the context of real estate, premises refer to land and the developments on it, including buildings, stores, shops, or other designated structures. Moreover, this word is mainly used in the context of real property as it is associated with tangible immovable property.
The word premises has also been historically used in legal documents and contracts referring to “matters previously stated”. In real estate deeds, the premises are the first part of the contract which contains the names of the grantor and grantee, and the specifications of the property, which include a detailed description of the encompassing building, lands, and tenements. However, as many of the later clauses of the contract also need to refer to the specifications of the property, people began to use the word premises to refer to the property described. This is how this word came to be used in the context of real property.
What is the Relationship Between Property and Premises?
- The word premises is used in the context of real property as it is associated with tangible and immovable property.
- We often tend to use these two words interchangeably in real estate.
What is the Difference Between Property and Premises?
Property refers to anything that is owned by a person or an entity whereas premises refer to land and buildings and other structures on it. So, we can consider this as the key difference between property and premises. Property can be either tangible, intangible, movable or immovable while premises refers to tangible and immovable property. In real estate, property refers to the entirety of the land, buildings, structures, machinery, equipment, etc., owned by the landowner; however, premises refers to only that portion of the property and/or components of it that are the subject of the lease/sale. Thus, this is another difference between property and premises.
The following infographic looks at the summary of the difference between property and premises.
Summary – Property vs Premises
Property basically refers to anything owned by a person or an entity, whether it is tangible, intangible, movable or immovable. Premises, however, refers to tangible and immovable property. Therefore, this is the key difference between property and premises. Nevertheless, in real estate, we often use the two words property and premises interchangeably.
Reference:
1. “How ‘Premises’ Came to Mean ‘Property’.” Merriam-Webster, Available here.
2. “Property.” The Free Dictionary, Farlex, Available here.
3. “Legal Definition of Property: Everything You Need to Know.” UpCounsel, Available here.
4. “Real and Personal Property.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 16 May 2013, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “1808155” (CC0) via Max Pixel
2. “House Renting, Buying, Selling Contract” By Mark Moz (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr