Private property right which passes with the land
•Positive or negative right of user over land of
another:
e.g: right of way, right to land, parking easements
Methods of acquistion:
By express grant or reservation:
Deed of grant that states terms of easements or take
form of a conveyance in the clause
Prescription
Modes of prescription:
Common law
Claimant can show right has
been enjoyed for 20 years. could have been since 1189
Lost modern grant
Court willing to presume valid
grant of right was given in the past
Prescription Act 1832
Easements acquired upon 20-40 years uninteruppted use as of right.
Acquisition will not be defeated by showing use began after 1189
Satisfy 3 conditions to
establish easement has
been acquired:
1) User must be 'as of right:'must be nec vi (without force) , nec clam (without secrecy), nec precario (without permission)
2) User must be 'continuous'
3) User must be on behalf of one fee
simple against another fee simple owner
Implied grant
law reads the grant of an easement into a document or agreement
Under Wheeldon v Burrows: acquisition of easement by implied grant. quasi-easement
Where the grantor, the
owner of the servient land,
disposes of part of its land
To satisfy as an easement, 4 characteristics under
R v Ellensborough 1956:
Casebrief: residential properties had been given
a right of common enjoyment of a park which
was adjacent to their houses and which was
vested in trustees. This right was held to have
been validly granted as an easement
1. a dominant and a servient tenement
benefit must be attached to one piece
of land (dominant tenement) & burden
must be exercisable over another piece
of land (servient tenement)
easement cannot exist in gross ie. to unattached piece of land
2. the easement must accommodate the dominant tenement
3. the dominant and servient owners must be different persons
4. the easement must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant
Capable grantor/grantee
Rights cannot be an easement if:
1) Requires servient owner to spend money
or
2) Amounts to exclusive possession of
servient land
3) Is not exercisable over right
Problems
Courts reluctant to recognise new easements e.g. Hunter v
Canary Wharf [1997]: no easement of a clear view Hill v
Tupper (1863): easement to hire pleasure boat= not easement,
does not accomadate canal bank
Termination of easements by:
Merger: union of
dominant and
servient
Release
Express: servient owner
acts upon promise been
released from burden of
easement
Implied: non-user not
sufficient although
easement has not been
used for a long period
Statute
Change of character:
change of dominant
tenement
IN LAW (deed):
When created by competent grantor & created by
deed,equivalent in duration to legal estate in land,
expressly acquired (grant/reservation) in respect to land
Enforcement against 3rd party:
REGISTERED LAND:
Expressly acquired: registration by s27 LRA 2002 to make
easements legal
Impliedly acquired: amounts to overriding interest under s3 LRA 2002
UNREGISTERED = binds whole world
IN EQUITY (written
agreement)
Created in compliance with S53 LPA1925 or by
equitable estate owner or an attempt to create
legal easement fails to meet legal formalities
Enforcement against 3rd party:
REGISTERED LAND: Expressly or impliedly acquired:
where entered as notice on charges register, servient
land will be binding
UNREGISTERED LAND: will not bind
legal purchaser of legal estate for
money
Remedies
Abatement: allows dominant owner to
remove obstruction that prevents him
from enjoying exercise of easement
Damages: is substantial
interference with enjoyment of
easement: Weston v Lawrence
1961
Injunction: restrain interference of
right that dominant owner complains it
will be justified where infringement is
trivial
PROFITS A PRENDE
Allows person to go into land of another,
servient land and take natural produce which
itself capable of ownership.
No need for dominant tenement as profit can exist in gross.