Will reform resolve the legal minefield of easements by prescription, asks Christopher Warenius
Most property owners would agree that the law relating to easements by prescription can be a bit of a minefield. It has, as the Law Commission’s consultation paper Making Land Work: Easements, Covenants and Profits a Prendre suggests, “become too complex over decades and even centuries”.
The Court of Appeal’s judgment in London Tara Hotel v Kensington Close Hotel [2011] EWCA Civ 1356, [2011] All ER (D) 180 (Nov) illustrates the difficulties encountered in practice. The consultation paper seeks to overhaul the current law, but would the landowner in Tara be treated any differently?
Facts
In 1973, London Tara Hotel (LTH) granted a licence to Kensington Close Limited, the owner of the Kensington Close Hotel (KCH), providing for rights to use the service road belonging to LTH in consideration of an annual £1 payment, if demanded. In 1980, unknown to LTH, KCH changed ownership but use of the service road continued, even though the licence had been granted to, and was personal to, Kensington Close Limited, the former owner.
