Why does the council own that land AND would you try to register a wayleave?

summereire

I'm trying to tidy up some details relating to a property we have which is accessed through a right of way over another person's land - this is a lane with 8 different properties off it, wholly owned by a person who used to own all of this land before they subdivided it and sold it off.

We have a full right of way over the laneway, and the paperwork is in order, so that bit is fine. However for some weird reason we even have the right to erect lights listed as an easement in our folio and instrument but no mentioned wayleave for running cables, pipes etc.

On one hand I'm inclined to just leave this alone, as we already have utilities in, however I've heard about the new act that requires registration within a 3 year period and am wondering if I should have it registered just to be safe.

I did a check with the land registry to see if the original owner still owned the lane, and it came back in the name of the local council, wheras it used to be in their name and I know they still live there currently.

Does anyone have any experience as to what this means, and if I want to have the wayleave formally listed on the folio, should I be contacting the council or the person who lives in the house? Why do the council now own their home and this lane and what are the implications of this for registering the wayleave?

Thank you very much in advance for any guidelines - once I have explored this some more I will of course involve a solicitor before taking action either way.

littlemac1980

I'm a little confused by the description, to be honest. What I'm wondering, is why would you need to run pipes and cables over someone else's land, when those could presumably be run from your own property?

summereire

Apologies if I'm not being clear, the right of way I'm talking about is the only way to access our property so there is nowhere else to run pipes.

My two questions:

1) Why is it that the council now own this person's home and do I deal with the council or them now?

2) Is it worth the hassle of trying to formally arrange a wayleave for running utilities - i.e. would you do it?

Thanks

zinzan

I would suggest looking for the wayleave just to have it in place - we are in a situation where there are 5 houses off a private lane (we have right of use though) still owned by the builder and we are trying to get mains gas in, but without wayleave there is nothing we can do and have been waiting months for a response from owner of the lane. It's looking like it won't be possible without a battle.

littlemac1980

Ok, yes, my mistake, you were talking about your general utilities, and I had mistakenly believed you meant cables in the context of installing an exterior light.

My view is that, if you don't have an express easement, then it would be better to have the right registered, as if you ever try to sell the property, the issue will likely arise, and could slow things up, or even put off a potential purchaser. Though in all likelihood, as is often the case, there is no need to worry about your entitlement to run your services over someone else's property, as you most likely have the right, which simply hasn't been recognised. Though such would depend on the length of time you have exercised the right.

However, it wouldn't generally be advisable not to alert a neighbour of a potential right over their land (which inevitably devalues their property) until you are 100% certain that you actually have it. For that reason, I'd suggest you talk to your solicitor about this. They'll go through the facts of your situation and advise you appropriately.

summereire

Thanks for those replies, very helpful, and yes I will be going to my solicitor about this - just want to explore some of the options and others experience first.

As to ownership, any ideas as to why the council now own this person's home and the lane that we have a right of way over when in the past it was in their name? And as a result should I be dealing with them or the council?

finisklin

They CPO'd it? It is of strategic development use?

summereire

Em, not sure unless it was for road widening as it is a rather windy road and it entered their name some years back.

If it was a CPO would they not have either sold to the person and they then leave, or else just buy only the part that they need for the project and leave them?

They've bought the whole thing, a number of years ago, and the person still lives there - that's why I'm puzzled.

I'm trying to figure out why they need it before I approach them so I say the right thing. In any case, would I be right do you think to deal with the council as they own the title?