Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Prescription definition

What does Prescription mean? In property practice, prescription is the process by which rights are acquired over another’s land—most often an easement or profit à prendre—by long, uninterrupted use ‘as of right’ (nec vi, nec clam, nec precario). Used to establish rights of way, drainage and rights to take natural products. England and Wales: acquisition may arise at common law (largely theoretical), under the doctrine of lost modern grant (typically 20 years’ user), or under the Prescription Act 1832 (qualified rights after 20 years; absolute after 40), all shaped by case law. Northern Ireland: the position broadly mirrors England and Wales, with statutory prescription derived from...

Highway diversions, deviation rights and closure through natural causes: common law principles and maintenance duties (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Local Government expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note discusses the common law on highway diversions

It sets out that the essential feature is movement from A to B, rather than the specific parcel of land over which the right of way is believed to lie, and it also covers highway closure brought about by natural forces. It further explains that where a highway on or close to the coast is destroyed by incursions from the sea, the courts will not require the Authority charged with its Maintenance to reinstate it to a serviceable condition. While the common law acknowledges the force of the maxim ‘once a highway, always a highway’, there are, inevitably, some exceptions. In R v Secretary of State for the Environment, ex p Burrows; R v Secretary of State for the Environment, ex p Simms, Purchas LJ observed: ‘At common law the rule was and remains “once a highway, always a highway”’...

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Nicholas Hancox

Nicholas Hancox Solicitors

Nicholas qualified in 1977. He specialises in Education Law, Local Government Law and Highways Law and has been authoring and editing for LexisNexis since 2000....

Alastair Frew

Lodders Solicitors

I am a partner in Lodders’ Real Estate Group and head of the Business Property team, having joined the firm in 2002. My clients often include business owners, commercial developers, private investors, and niche housebuilders, as well as the financial institutions that fund them. I also lead the Renewable Energy team at Lodders. In this team, we guide a growing number of landowners through the complex documentation needed for matters like forming a solar PV development, establishing a battery storage scheme, and incorporating a wind farm. I have published books through Law Brief Publishing on the subjects of highways and renewable energy, and regularly contribute to Lexis Nexis....

Sam Amphlett

Lodders Solicitors

I am a Legal Director in Lodders’ Real Estate Group. I joined the firm in 2023. My clients include SME housebuilders, business owners and private individuals. I specialise in planning and highways matters including advising on planning and highways enquiries from individuals, action groups, businesses and local authorities, with a particular interest in rights of way issues, biodiversity net gain, drafting and negotiating complex planning and infrastructure agreements and carrying out due diligence on property transactions....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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