22. Easements

Abstract

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter is concerned with easements. An easement is the proprietary right to enjoy limited use of the land of another, which may exist in both positive and negative form. To constitute an easement, a right over the land of another must display certain characteristics. If these characteristics are not present, the right over the land of another is merely a personal right. An easement may be created by express, implied, or presumed grant. As a proprietary right, an easement is not easy to extinguish but in the case of freehold land, easement will be extinguished where the dominant and servient land come into common ownership, and an easement attached to a lease may sometimes be extinguished upon the termination of that lease.