Does a legal title deed holder always control land?

The Public Sector Accounting Forum (PSAF) noted that entities experience challenges in practice when assessing control of land. For example, it may be unclear who controls land where one entity has legal title over land but has given the right to another party to use it, and where the arrangement is not in writing.

The PSAF considered the following:

• The assessment of whether control has been transferred by an owner / legal title deed holder to another party should consider substantive rights that are presently exercisable irrespective of whether they have been exercised and that land usually has an unlimited useful life.
• The assessment may require legal interpretation and should consider legal ownership, custodianship and vesting rights.

In practice, entities assess control of structures on (or below) land with the assessment of control of the land itself. The assessment is done separately.