⇒ An easement is the right of one landowner to make use of another nearby piece of land for the benefit of his own land.
⇒ In the Court of Appeal decision in Re Ellenborough Park, Evershed M.R held that a right amounts to an easement only if it satisfies four requirements:
⇒ Even if the 4 requirements are fulfilled, we do not necessarily have an easement → because, in addition, the parties must intend for it to exist as an easement.
⇒ This means there must be two plots of land: one which is dominant, the other which is servient.
⇒ The dominant plot of land is the land that has the benefit of the easement.
⇒ The servient plot of land is the land that has the burden of the easement.
FOOL-PROOF methods of obtaining top grades
SECRETS your professors won't tell you and your peers don't know
INSIDER TIPS and tricks so you can spend less time studying and land the perfect job
We work really hard to provide you with incredible law notes for free...
The proceeds of this eBook helps us to run the site and keep the service FREE!
⇒ The two plots of land must be owned by different people i.e. the dominant and servient tenements must be owned by different people.
⇒ In order to exist as an easement, a right must accommodate the dominant land.
⇒ "Accomodation" demands that the right deliver a benefit to the dominant land rather than a mere personal benefit to the dominant owner.
⇒ Moody v Steggles (1879): The High Court held that the right to hang a sign bearing its name on adjoining premises accommodated the dominant tenement, a pub.
⇒ Re Ellenborough Park [1955]: The Court of Appeal held that the right to use a neighbouring garden accommodated the dominant tenement, a residential property.
⇒ Polo Woods Foundation v Shelton-Agar [2009]: The High Court held that a right to graze ten horses on neighbouring land accommodated the dominant tenement, a farm.
⇒ Hill v Tupper (1863): the owner of land on the bank of a canal (the dominant tenement) claimed that his right to operate boats on the canal (the servient tenement) amounted to an easement.
⇒ In Re Ellenborough Park, Evershed M.R. asserted that in order to βaccommodateβ the dominant tenement, a right must not only benefit the dominant land but must also be "connected with the normal enjoyment of the property".
⇒ Interpretation one:
⇒ Interpretation two:
⇒ Interpretation three:
⇒ Furthermore, the two plots of land must be relatively close to each other otherwise there can be no benefit.
⇒ See the next topic notes on this point, here.
Learn how to effortlessly land vacation schemes, training contracts, and pupillages by making your law applications awesome. This eBook is constructed by lawyers and recruiters from the world's leading law firms and barristers' chambers.
β 60+ page eBook
β Research Methods, Success Secrets, Tips, Tricks, and more!
β Help keep Digestible Notes FREE