Land Law I

Module Code: LLBM2009

By: Aishath Riyasa
Easements [Part III]
  (a) by statute (legal);
 (b) by prescription (legal);

Creation of  (c) by deed or registered disposition (legal);

easement  (d) by a specifically enforceable written contract, not amounting to

a deed or registered disposition (equitable);
 (e) by estoppel (equitable).
  Express grant (when the owner of the potential
Express servient tenement gives (that is, grants) an
easement over that land to the owner of what
creation will become the dominant tenement)
 Express reservation (An easement is expressly
reserved when the owner of the potential
dominant tenement keeps (that is, reserves) an
easement for the benefit of that land, operating
over other land.)
  1. Where the servient and dominant tenements are already in
Express grant separate ownership and the servient tenement owner grants an
may occur in easement over his land to his neighbour.
 Eg: Example, where A grants B (a neighbouring landowner) a right
two principal of way over A’s land.
ways  2. where land is owned by a potential servient owner and he
then sells or leases a piece of that land to another, the potential
servient owner may include in that sale/lease a grant of an
easement to the purchaser.
 Eg: A person sells part of his land and includes in that sale the
right to lay water pipes under his retained land for the benefit of
the part sold.
  An easement is a right in rem which is capable of being legal
(Law of Property Act 1925, section 1(1)).
Legal or  An express easement will actually achieve legal status if
created with the requisite formality i.e. a deed (Law of
equitable: Property Act 1925, section 52(1)) and registration (Land
Registration Act, section 27(2)(d)).
 Where the relevant formality requirements are not satisfied,
the easement may take effect in equity. It will do so if there is
a valid (actual or discovered via Parker v Taswell (1858))
contract granting the easement (Law of Property
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, section 2)
  An easement is expressly reserved when the
owner of the potential dominant tenement keeps
Express (that is, reserves) an easement for the benefit of
reservation that land, operating over other land.
 Eg: land is owned by the potential dominant
owner, and he then sells or leases a piece of that
land to another, the potential dominant owner
may include in that sale/lease a reservation of an
easement for himself.
 Implied by necessity
Implied Implied by common intention
easements Easements implied under the rule in
Wheeldon v Burrows
Easements implied under s 62 of the Law
of Property Act 1925
  An easement may be impliedly granted,
Doctrine of and occasionally impliedly reserved,
necessity because of necessity.
 Eg: where the land sold (grant) or land
retained (reservation) would be useless
without the existence of an easement in its
favour.
  Easements of necessity arise most frequently in connection with
easements of way or light.
 A sells part of his land to B, but it is impossible for B to gain access
Grant to his new land without walking over the land retained by A, an
easement of way by necessity will be impliedly granted in favour
of B’s land over A’s retained land; that is, the grant of an easement
will be implied into the transfer of the dominant part to B.
 Wong v Beaumont (1965): An easement of ventilation by necessity
was held to exist when the land sold to the purchaser was intended
to be used as a restaurant, but could not be so used without an
easement permitting a ventilation shaft to be constructed over the
land retained by the vendor.
  A sells part of his land to B, but it is impossible
for A to gain access to the land he has retained
Reservation without walking over the land sold to B, an
easement of way by necessity can be said to be
impliedly reserved in A’s favour; that is, the
reservation of the easement will be implied on
the occasion of the transfer of the servient part
to B.
  Easements may be impliedly incorporated into sales of
land, either in favour of the purchaser (grant), or in
Common favour of the vendor (reservation), if this is required to
give effect to the common intention of the parties.
intention  Parker J in Pwllbach v Woodman 1915
necessity  “The law will readily imply the grant or reservation of
such easements as may be necessary to give effect to the
common intention of the parties" → "But it is essential
for this purpose that the parties should intend that the
subject of the grant or the land retained by the grantor
should be used in some definite and particular manner"
  The case of Wheeldon v Burrows establishes that when X
conveys (i.e. sells or leases) part of their land to Y, an
The doctrine in easement benefiting the land transferred to Y and burdening
the part retained by X will be implied into the conveyance
Wheeldon v provided that:
Burrows  1. Before the transfer there was a quasi-easement over
the retained part in favour of the transferred part;
 2. At the time of the transfer, this quasi-easement was
'continuous and apparent';
 3. It is 'necessary for the reasonable enjoyment' of the
transferred part that Y has an easement in the shape of the
earlier quasi-easement.
  Where an owner of land sells or leases part of it to
Doctrine another, and that sale or lease impliedly carries with it
certain easements for the benefit of the part sold,
contained in burdening the part retained.
the LPA 1925  s 62 of the LPA 1925
section 62  …a conveyance of land shall be deemed to include and
shall by virtue of this Act operate to convey, with the
land, all buildings, erections, fixtures…liberties,
privileges, easements, rights, and advantages
whatsoever, appertaining or reputed to appertain to the
land, or any part thereof…
  Dixon M, Chapter 7: ‘The law of easements and profits
Reading à prendre’
 Mackenzie J & Phillips M, Chapter 17 ‘Easements and
profits à prendre’.
 Re Ellenborough Park [1956] Ch 131.
Thank you