Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Right of way definition

What does Right of way mean? A right of way is a legal right to pass and repass over land owned by someone else—on foot, with vehicles, animals or equipment—for a defined purpose. In private law it is usually an easement in England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and a servitude in Scotland. The concept is primarily shaped by case law, with statutory rules on prescription and recording/registration varying by jurisdiction. Key features include: it benefits identified “dominant” land and burdens “servient” land; the scope is limited to the permitted mode and intensity of passage; ancillary rights reasonably necessary to use the way may exist; there...

Interpreting easements in England and Wales: express, implied and prescriptive rights on use, parking, routes, width, vehicles, drainage, change and intensification of use, and abandonment

Published by a LexisNexis Property expert

Practice notes

The way land is used and occupied commonly relies on the land enjoying easements—for instance, a Right of way or a right to drain. Such rights might be created by express grant, arise by long use (Prescription), or be implied into the land’s original transfer. As Ownership or patterns of use shift over time, it is often necessary to assess the character and scope of any easements that have been conferred or obtained. A buyer will want assurance that the easements benefiting the property are adequate for their particular requirements. Conversely, the owner of servient land may contend that a fresh or intensified exercise of an easement by the dominant tenement amounts to ‘excessive user’. There is no universal rule for construing easements; each dispute is determined on its own facts. That said, where an easement has been expressly granted, the primary reference point will always be the grant deed, which the court will read as a whole and in its proper context. Absent clear wording to the contrary, the court will interpret the grant in a manner favourable to the grantee or the owner of the dominant land overall...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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