Right of way

[mbarraclough]

I have recently bought a small plot (old coach house) in SE London. It did have planning consent for a small dwelling which lapsed a while back. We are proposing to submit for a new dwellings. The coach house is one of 6 all of which benefit from a right of way over lane which runs past the coach houses and connects to main road. The coach house is now derelict but there may well have been some utility provision in the past (not sure though). we will however need to make new sewer, gas, elec and water connection and we are proposing running these in trench under lane to connect to mains in road. The existing lane is currently unsurfaced and we would need to trench approx 20m. The coach house has been abandoned for some time (prob 20yrs at a guess) but I assume the RoW is still valid.

Can you let me know if the RoW would cover services. The title register states that the coach house has 'right of way over accessway shown brown on attached plan, subject to transferee contributing a fair proportion of any maintenance etc'. Copy attached.

Also it would be good to know if we also have any right over placing bins on lane and any bike rack.

Lastly, as we are proposing change of use from coach house to dwelling would the right of way still be valid.

We have not entered dispute with owner yet but I have the feeling we may need some help as he is claiming that we may need to compensate him for running services, bins etc under his lane... he's looking for £25k which seems alot considering the plot cost £80k. Thanks for any help,

[R0b]

Re: Right of way

The Right of way would only cover what was agreed, in the Deed of Easement between the two parties which in this case is likely to be Lynsouth Developments Ltd and Edward Manning. You said the owner is asking £25k for this, but who is it Mr Manning or Lynsouth you have been speaking to and how do you know this person is the owner, do you have proof i.e. a title number or evidence of the transfer?

The likleihood is that the right of way won't cover the right to dig up and place gas electricty etc. rather just a right to pass and repass with or without vehicles.

[mbarraclough]

Re: Right of way

Thanks Rob. I dont know who Mr Manning or Lynsouth are but I bought the plot off Mr Desmond (at auction). I'm not sure if there is a copy of any agreement but I assume the right of way is quite clear from title plans/register. Assuming we cant find copy of agreement what assumptions can be made concerning installing new services? Not entirely clear.

There is a new owner of the freehold (lane)... he bought at auction same time as me. He's the one I"ll be dealing with on RoW so I"ll see if he has any paper work. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated, Cheers

[R0b]

Re: Right of way

The easement for the right of way should be registered with the Land Registry but they haven't put a title number on the transfer between Lynsouth and Mr Manning. You could contact the LR and see if they will give it to you, then you could ask for a copy of the transfer between the two parties or see if they have the Deed of Easement, if I recall it costs about £7 and you can request up to 5 documents before they will charge you more.

Once you have the relevant information you can see what you can and can't do under the right of way. Again, you could ask the new owner of the lane for the registered title number in case you need to review what's on the title to the lane (because there may be no right to dig up the lane). But if you are sure he is the owner and nothing preventing you from actually installing services under the lane I think it might be a case of negotiating, £25k seems pretty steep in my eyes but its whatever your willing to agree to.

I think at some point though you'd want to engage a solicitor to enable you draft up rights install, reinstall, dig up, repair etc. once those services are in place.

But before you go about doing or agreeing to anything, I would suggest you review the title to each of the land that is affected by you wanting to install the services, for starters:

1. The transfer between Lynsouth and Mr Manning (Lynsouth still exist so you could contact them and ask politely for a copy, maybe agree to pay reasonable admin costs for the transfer and/or deed of easement. Their details are here https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/02023413)

2. Registry information of the lane to determine any restrictions or other things that could affect you.

[R0b]

Re: Right of way

A right of way doesn't generally give a right to install services, it is simply a right to pass over and re-pass the land as coloured brown on the plan. Usually, service providers would enter into a Wayleave Agreement which is effectively an agreement for utility providers to install pipework or cabling passing through an owner's land.

The Wayleave Agreement is a contractual licence which does not bind future owners of the land, so on occasions, service providers would look to obtain an easement to install, repair, replace etc. Either way, there is generally a return of annual payments for this which is something that could be negotiated with the owner instead of a payment of £25k.

[mbarraclough]

Re: Right of way

Thanks so much and some great advice. I'll let you know how it goes. again thanks so much.