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Facts

Ellenborough Park is located across the street from a row of houses. The person who owned the land the park was on gave the builders of the houses "the full enjoyment at all times hereafter in common pleasure of the ground" when he sold them the land to build the houses. The people who now live in the houses are applying to have their right to use the park recognized as an easement. The trial judge found that this did constitute an easement, which the owners of the land appealed.

Issue

  1. What do you need to have in order for an easement to exist?

Decision

Appeal dismissed, easement granted.

Reasons

Evershed, writing for a unanimous court, states that there are four things that must be present in order for an easement to exist:

  1. there must be a dominant and servient tenement;
  2. an easement must "accommodate" the dominant tenant (the use of the land in question must be "connected" to the use of the dominant land - merely adding to the property value is not enough to satisfy this);
  3. the dominant and servient owners must be different people; and
  4. the right must be capable of being the subject matter of a grant.
    1. this is because easements cannot be passed by possession, because they do not physically exist – they can only pass through grants
    2. the right must be a "right of utility and benefit", and not merely for recreation or amusement.

In this case Evershed agrees with the trial judge that all four of these conditions are met. The house represents the dominant tenement while the park represents the servient tenement. The use of the park is necessarily connected to the houses; it was expected to be enjoyed upon purchase and always has been enjoyed. Different parties own the houses and the park. Finally, Eversham states that this right is more than merely recreational or for amusement, as using the park is a benefit. He says that a jus spatiandi, or a "privilege of wandering at will over all and every part of another's field or park" amounts to a right of utility and benefit.

Ratio

In order for an easement to exist there must be four things:

  1. a dominant and servient tenement;
  2. the easement must “accommodate” the dominant tenant - the use must be connected to the use of the dominant land (more than simply adds value);
  3. the dominant and servient owners must be different people; and
  4. the right, which must be "of utility and benefit", must be capable of being the subject matter of a grant.
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