Wayleave meaning

In this issue: Statutory compliance Property in Wales Property development Environment, energy and buildings Property management Residential property Transferring property Easements, right and covenants Property taxes Property in Scotland Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New Q&As Statutory compliance Court of Appeal upholds retrospective leaseholder protections In Adriatic Land 5 Ltd v Long Leaseholders at Hippersley Point (Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government, intervening) [2025] EWCA Civ 856, the Court of Appeal, by a majority, ruled that paragraph 9 of Schedule 8 to the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) applies retrospectively to stop the recovery of service charges covering legal and professional fees tied to safety defect liabilities under qualifying leases where those liabilities arose before 28 June 2022 (the date the relevant BSA 2022 provisions commenced). The court’s reasoning turned on the legislative intention to shield leaseholders from heavy...

In this issue: Transferring property Residential property Property in Wales Statutory compliance Environment, energy and buildings Easements, rights and covenants Property taxes Property in Scotland Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Transferring property Failure of proprietary estoppel claim—statements too vague In Maile v Maile [2025] EWHC 2494 (Ch), the High Court rejected two grandsons’ proprietary estoppel case against their late grandmother’s estate. The court held that testamentary assurances must be specific, unequivocal and carry an air of finality, not merely reflect present intention, and that claimants must show they would have behaved differently absent the alleged promises. The grandsons contended they were to receive a 170‑acre farm valued at £1.73m, relying on repeated remarks from childhood that “one day this will all be yours”. However, a 2016 codicil restored an equal division between the grandmother’s daughters, displacing a 2011 codicil that had...

In this issue: Property management Insurance Easements, rights and covenants Property development Statutory compliance Residential property Transferring property Property taxes Property in Scotland Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New Q&A Property management No recovery of landlord’s legal costs via service charge In Triplark Ltd v Martin Howard [2025] UKUT 232 (LC), the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) confirmed that a landlord could not pass legal costs through a service charge where the lease wording addressed only building management. The Tribunal stressed that service charge clauses must state, in clear and unequivocal terms, that legal costs are recoverable. The landlord had attempted to recoup £55,492.23—covering general legal advice, litigation expenditure, and costs from actions against third parties—under a provision allowing recovery of ‘proper fees salaries charges and expenses’ tied to management of the building. Applying Arnold v Britton [2015] UKSC 36 and following Sella House Ltd...

Negotiation Guide This Negotiation Guide sits within the Practical lease negotiation collection. See also Practice Note: New starter guide—entering into new commercial leases. An alterations clause sets out how far (if at all) a tenant may undertake alterations to the demised premises. Contemporary commercial leases usually separate alterations into: prohibited alterations alterations allowed with the landlord’s consent alterations allowed without the landlord’s consent If, unusually, the lease contains no alteration restrictions, the tenant may carry out any alterations to the demised premises. More often, commercial leases impose a general ban on alterations, with carve-outs for defined categories of works (eg internal non-structural changes) that may proceed either with, or without, the landlord’s prior consent. Drafting by exception in this manner helps to minimise confusion and reduce the risk of future disputes. The scope of permitted alterations—and any conditions attached to them—is shaped by the nature of the premises, the duration of the lease and the landlord’s plans for...

Wayleave and the Electronic Communications Code Over the past ten years, the telecommunications sector has expanded at a remarkable rate, driven by the pressure to deliver reliable, far-reaching communications networks. Operators such as BT, Vodafone and Sky cannot roll out these networks without access to install equipment on privately owned sites. They also need the freedom to modernise apparatus to match rapid technological progress, and to share kit so they can satisfy rising demand and preserve consumer choice. While enabling operators to work efficiently is essential, site providers will equally want robust safeguards for their own interests. This Practice Note highlights provisions that can be built into a telecommunications wayleave to strengthen the site provider’s position... A telecommunications wayleave agreement A wayleave is a consent or licence through which a person with an interest in land permits another party to exercise a right over that land. It is distinct from an easement or a lease. A wayleave does not create an interest in the land, does not...

For comprehensive commentary on the regulation, consenting and incentivisation of the net zero energy transition under the law of England and Wales, see also: Collinson and Hockman on Energy Law: Regulating, Consenting and Incentivising the Energy Transition. That textbook offers detailed treatment of topics addressed in this Practice Note. To establish any new connection—whether serving a generator, a dwelling, an office or an entire development—fresh network infrastructure must be constructed. Because network operators recover installation capital over a prolonged period (by levying suppliers for network use), a primary concern is the security of the network asset—that is, the right for it to be installed in, and remain within, the land. This typically combines statutory powers granted to licensed electricity distribution and transmission network operators with private rights, such as long leases and easements. What are street-opening powers? Section 10 and Schedule 4 of the Electricity Act 1989 (EA 1989) confer street-opening powers on licensed electricity generators, network operators, suppliers and interconnector operators (termed ‘licence holders’...

STOP PRESS: THE NEW ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS CODE CAME INTO FORCE ON 28 DECEMBER 2017. This precedent was prepared against the backdrop of the former Code, and its substance may still be pertinent for the transitional arrangements contained in the new Code. It remains useful context. The transitional arrangements in the new Code, set out in Schedule 2 to the Digital Economy Act 2017, state that existing agreements under the former Code (ie an agreement under paragraph 2 or 3, or a court order conferring Code rights under paragraph 5 of the former Code) will continue to have effect once the new Code commences, albeit with certain modifications. For added detail on the transitional arrangements, see: New Electronic Communications Code—Code rights—Transitional provisions (Schedule 2 DEA 2017). For further information regarding the new Code, please consult Practice Notes: New Electronic Communications Code—Code rights and New Electronic Communications Code—terminating and modifying Code rights. The City of London Law Society published a new Digital Fixed Line Infrastructure Agreement for the New Electronic Communications...

This template wayleave is accessible through an external link to The City of London Law Society’s Wayleave Agreement (the )...

Paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 4 to the Electricity Act 1989 (EA 1989) states that: When a right granted by a wayleave is exercised and damage is caused to land or moveables, any person with an interest in that land or those moveables may claim compensation from the licence holder for the damage. Likewise, where using such a right disrupts someone’s enjoyment of any land or moveables, that individual may recover compensation from the licence holder for the disturbance. The EA 1989 empowers entities permitted to generate, transport or supply electricity to obtain a wayleave to place an electric line on, under or over private land, together with access rights for inspection, maintenance and replacement...

Electricity Act 1989 Section 10(1) of the Electricity Act 1989 (EA 1989) sets out two routes for electricity supply companies (being licence holders under the EA 1989) to secure rights over land. One route is compulsory purchase of the requisite land or interests under EA 1989, Sch 3. The alternative is obtaining a ‘necessary wayleave’, in accordance with EA 1989, Sch 4. For additional guidance, see Practice Note: Statutory wayleaves and rights of access. Compulsory acquisition Schedule 3 draws in, subject to important modifications, provisions contained in Part I of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965...

Overriding interests Overriding interests split into two groups...