Easements

What is an Easement?

An easement right is a proprietary right that is enjoyed over another piece of land owned by a different person.

Common examples include private rights of way, rights to light, and rights to use pipes and drains.

For a right to be classed as an easement, the right must benefit land and must not be personal to the owner of the relevant land.

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How Are Easement Rights Created?

Easements can be created in a number of ways including but not limited to:

• Express grant by deed eg in a transfer or deed of grant
• Statute eg utility companies may be granted easements by statute to enter onto private land to install pipes
• Implied grant where the grant is necessary for use of the land eg where a property is landlocked, a right of way may be implied over surrounding land to enable access to the property
• Prescription ie where the alleged right has been openly used for a long period of time without permission
  
  

How Can We Help?

Disputes can arise in relation to:

• whether an easement right actually exists
• if an easement right does exist, what the extent of it is
• who should pay the costs for maintaining the relevant right and in what proportion
• obstruction of an easement eg erection of a gate on a right of way

You should never assume that you have a right to do something on someone else's land simply because you have been doing it for a prolonged period of time and nobody has taken issue with it.

Easement right disputes can detrimentally affect the value of a property and deter potential buyers. Therefore, when these do arise, it is important to seek legal advice to achieve swift resolution. Timing is critical particularly where there is an argument that an easement has arisen by prescription.

If you require specialist legal advice in relation to an easement right dispute, please contact Michelle Bendall in our Property Litigation team, on 0117 314 5326, or complete the form below.