Easements Flashcards
What are easements?
Easements are incorporeal hereditaments attached to land, benefiting one landowner (dominant tenement) while burdening another (servient tenement)
What is a servient tenement?
A servient tenement is land that is subject to an easement, which grants another piece of land (dominant tenement) the right to use it in a certain way
Can easements pass with the land?
Yes, easements must be capable of forming a proprietary interest, passing with the land to subsequent owners
What are 2 examples of traditional easements?
- Right of Way:The ability to cross another’s land
- Right to Light:The right to receive light through defined apertures
What are 2 examples of modern easements?
- Movement of Aircraft:Easement for low overflights (Bernstein of Leigh v Skyviews (1978))
- Parking Rights:Right to park vehicles (Batchelor v Marlow (2001))
What 4 criteria must easements meet according to Re Ellenborough Park (1956)?
- Dominant and servient tenement
- Must accommodate the dominant tenement
- Must be owned by different persons
- Must be capable of forming the subject of a grant
What does “accommodating the dominant tenement” mean?
The easement must enhance the utility or value of the dominant land, not just benefit an individual
Both lands need not be adjacent but sufficiently close
What is a legal easement?
An easement that meets statutory requirements and is annexed to a freehold or leasehold estate
What are the 4 methods of creating legal easements?
- Express grant or reservation
- Implied creation (necessity or common intention)
- Prescription
- Statute
What are the formal requirements for creating a legal easement?
Legal easements must be created by deed (s.52 Law of Property Act 1925) and registered for it to bind third parties
- Long-term use may establish an easement by prescription
What are 3 key cases for easements?
- Re Ellenborough Park (1956)
- Wright v Macadam (1949)
- Platt v Crouch (2003)
What types of estates can easements attach to?
Easements must attach to a freehold or leasehold estate, benefiting the dominant tenement
What is an equitable easement, and when does it arise?
An equitable easement arises when formal legal requirements are incomplete but there is an enforceable written agreement or proprietary estoppel
What are the 5 ways an easement can be extinguished?
- Unification of ownership (both tenements merge)
- Express release by dominant owner
- Abandonment
- Failure to register
- Statutory termination
Does prolonged non-use automatically extinguish an easement?
No, abandonment requires clear evidence of intent to permanently stop using the easement
What is a profit-à-prendre?
A profit-à-prendre is a right to enter land and extract resources, such as fish, wood, or turf
How are profits-à-prendre created and registered?
Profits-à-prendre are created through grant, prescription, or estoppel and must be registered under the LRA 2002 to bind third parties
How do legal and equitable easements affect registered land (benefit and burden)?
- Benefit: Passes automatically with the dominant tenement
- Burden: Legal easements are registered against the servient title; equitable easements require a Notice to bind third parties
How do legal and equitable easements affect unregistered land (benefit and burden)?
- Benefit: Binds successors with the dominant tenement
- Burden: Legal easements bind all; equitable easements must be registered as a Class D(iii) land charge under the Land Charges Act 1972
What are the formal requirements for creating an equitable easement?
It must arise from an enforceable contract or proprietary estoppel
What is the difference between an easement by grant and by reservation?
- Grant: The servient owner gives a right to the dominant owner
- Reservation: The seller retains an easement over the transferred land
When is an easement implied by necessity?
When land would otherwise be unusable, such as requiring access to a public road
How can an easement arise by common intention?
When an easement is necessary to fulfill the intended use of the land at the time of transfer
What is the effect of Section 62 of the LPA 1925 in creating easements?
Converts existing permissions or privileges into legal easements upon conveyance, provided they are continuous and apparent
What is the rule in Wheeldon v Burrows, and how does it operate?
Converts quasi-easements into full easements if they are:
- Continuous and apparent
- Necessary for reasonable enjoyment of the land
What are the three methods of acquiring an easement by prescription?
1) Common law - Based on long-term use
2) Lost modern grant - Assumes a deed existed after 20+ years of use
3) Prescription Act 1832 - Statutory recognition of rights based on use
What are the 2 requirements for a prescriptive easement to be valid?
Use must be:
1. As of right (without force, secrecy, or permission)
- Continuous for over 20 years (40 years for statutory prescription)
