In Real Estate, What is An Easement Right?

Understanding and detecting the easements within property transactions is a vital part of the conveyancing method.

The property litigation lawyers in Perth say that all vendors need to disclose the easements that affect the land they wish to sell within a property contract.

Property buyers must make sure that they are well aware of the easement’s impact on the land which they’re planning to purchase.

Skilled and knowledgeable property lawyers can easily identify all the easements that affect a person’s proposed purchase and also explain their effect on the land.

Easement of a Property: A Brief Definition

The property easement lawyers in Perth have described easements as interests that are attached to the land, which provide a different land owner or the constitutional expert the right to utilize a portion of that land. He/she can utilize the land for all specified reasons.

The easement is registered on the property’s title and will certainly affect a particular section of the land. In general, one will find the easement displayed on the plan of land along with a small description or a detailed explanation in the document.

Understanding the Legal Terminology for Easements

The easement solicitors in Perth have pointed out that when discussing the easement, one might come across the terms “public” and “private,” “servient” and “dominant,” and “negative” and “positive.”

All these terms refer to how exactly an easement is made and who will benefit from it. The private easement is created between the landowners.

When the easement is made, one portion of the land will benefit heavily from that easement [the dominant tenement]. The other portion of the same land will be hampered by the easement [the servant tenement].

The “positive easement” will offer all the landowners several benefits, like the “right of way” to cross over another individual’s property so they can access their own.

This type of easement is also viewed as a “negative easement” by the neighbouring property. It’s because allowing access will have a massive impact on the landowner’s unrestricted usage of the land.

A public easement is made by the statutory authority over 1 or 2 parcels of land, like the easement for water or electrical services.

How Will the Easement Affect a Particular Property?

The easement rights lawyers in Perth have said that the easement offers several restrictions and rights. The land owners who have registered easements should have a proper understanding of all the legal implications.

An individual who is legally authorized to receive benefits from the easements like:

• Neighbours have the right to utilize another person’s driveway to access his/her property.
• Individuals who utilize the easement in a prescribed manner

All these people will not become liable for trespassing. Being the owner of the servient tenement, he/she shouldn’t restrict or interfere with all these rights.

When the authority registers the easement over a person’s land, such as an easement for sewerage services or electricity, the authority can easily access that person’s property. This will also have the power to conduct maintenance and repairs on the easement.

Furthermore, easements can also impact the development and building plans. In general, all owners will be prohibited from constructing too close or over an easement.

Otherwise, owners must receive approval or permission from the authority who owns that easement. But when the structure is constructed over the easement without getting approval to do so, the owner has to remove the structure legally.

How to Terminate or Extinguish an Easement?

The best property lawyers in Perth have said that the easement might become redundant or will not be needed.

In such certain situations, it might be advantageous and practical for the owner to get their registered easement removed completely from the title of the property. Getting rid of a negative easement will increase the appeal/value of a person’s property.

But there are some effective ways through which one can terminate or extinguish an easement.

• The express release is a process through which individuals who are affected by an easement can terminate the easement and then get to register their contract with a pertinent land labelling expert.
• Owners of the servant dwelling can apply to extinguish their easement on the grounds of abandonment. This can be recognized through non-usage of the easement and with the owner of a main residence agreeing to abandon the easement.
• In certain situations, where the servant and main tenements are consolidated within a parcel of land.
• At times when there is an alteration of use of the mainland that affects the usage of easement by the servient land that is rendered obsolete or comes to an end.

What are the Examples of Easement? 

The easement on property lawyers in Perth has said that one must learn and understand what exactly an easement of a specific property is. So, to have a proper understanding, the examples provided in this section can help.

• The right of way [right of carriageway] enables the owner of a landlocked property to gain access to their land after they travel over the portion of the neighbouring land. For instance, using a shared driveway for the battle-axe block.
• Cross easements allow the neighbouring properties to reciprocate the rights to utilize one another’s property in the same way. For example, to mutually support a structure like the “party wall between two terrace homes.”
• Easement for all the services like sewerage, water, or electricity, where the easement is under or over the property and might run parallel at the side or rear of a specific property. Some of these examples are sewer pipes beneath the land laid by the water authority or an electricity broadcast line located over the property.

Easements are effectively recorded on a property’s title deed. They are also noted on the incidental instruments and registered plan and displayed on the sewerage diagrams.

Final Thoughts

Easement of a property is known as a right, which one can either terminate or extinguish through a contract between a dominant and servient party. But one cannot change it without the consent from both the parties.

The leading easement lawyers are experts in handling easement-related cases and can also provide advice and guidance on such matters. He/she can gain some information about property easement before doing anything.