Lucy McCormick examines the impact of Kettel v Bloomfold on easements of parking spaces
Parking disputes are some of the most hotly contested in property law. No surprise—a parking space adds 6.5% to the value of a property on average, according to research by Nationwide. Yet ascertaining the legal basis of a particular parking space can be surprisingly difficult. Is it part of the freehold? Part of the demise of a lease? An easement? Or simply a contractual licence? A particular problem has always been whether the right to park a car in a single defined space is capable of being an easement, as it might be said that this leaves the owner of the land without any reasonable use of it.
Kettel v Bloomfold
The nature of the right to park has been revisited recently in Kettel & Ors v Bloomfold Ltd [2012] EWHC 1422 (Ch). In this case, the claimants were long lessees of residential flats in the east end of London. The defendant was the freeholder. Each of the flats had the benefit of the use of a designated parking
