Glossary · UK
What is Easement?
A legal right for one landowner to use, or restrict the use of, another's land for a specific purpose, such as a right of way or a right to run pipes, without owning that land.
Full Definition
An easement is a legal right attached to a piece of land (the "dominant" land) allowing its owner to use, or in some cases restrict the use of, a neighbouring piece of land (the "servient" land) for a defined purpose, without transferring any ownership of that neighbouring land. Common examples include a right of way to cross a neighbour's driveway to reach a garage, a right to run drains, water pipes or electricity cables under or over another's plot, a right to light reaching windows, and a right of support where one building relies on the structure of an adjoining one. Easements typically "run with the land," meaning they bind and benefit whoever owns the properties at any given time, not just the original parties who created the right, and most are recorded as part of the title at HM Land Registry, appearing in the register or on the title plan for both the dominant and servient properties. Easements can be created expressly, by a deed or clause in a conveyance when land is sold or subdivided (for example, a developer granting neighbouring plots mutual rights of way over a shared access road), or they can arise informally over time through long, uninterrupted use -- known as a prescriptive easement -- typically requiring at least 20 years' continuous use as of right, without permission, force or secrecy, before a claim can be established. For an easement to exist in law, four conditions generally must be met: there must be a dominant and a servient piece of land in different ownership, the right must "accommodate" (benefit) the dominant land rather than being purely personal to its owner, and the right must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant, meaning it is sufficiently certain and not so extensive that it would effectively deprive the servient owner of reasonable use of their own land. Buyers should always check the title register and title plan carefully during conveyancing, since an unclear or missing easement -- for example, no formal right of way over the only practical access route to a property -- can make a property difficult to mortgage, insure or sell, and may require an indemnity policy or a deed of easement to be put in place before completion.