Rights of Way

There are many ways in which rights of way can develop over land and it is absolutely essential to investigate all of them when a problem arises. Just because a right of way is not in the title deeds, does not mean that it does not exist.

We were asked by a client to sell a development site which was at the end of a small industrial estate.

When the buyer carried out their investigations, they discovered that the roadway leading to the site was not owned and maintained by the council but neither was there a registered legal right of way over it.

However, our client had been using the access road without any difficulty for over 15 years. We tracked down two former owners of the site through land registry records, companies house and that great internet tool, the search engine, and asked them to swear declarations confirming they too had used the roadway to access the site. By doing this, we obtained enough evidence to present to the land registry and to get a proper and legal right of way registered for our clients (a right of way by prescription). This enabled the sale to proceed and the buyer to develop the land.

For information on rights of way and land please contact Rebecca Beswick at Lawson-West Commercial on 0116 212 1000.

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