Definition of user: the exercise of a right to the enjoyment of property
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| Purpose of the provisions
The object of the provisions is to ensure that a purchaser of the land will automatically acquire the benefit not only of easements appurtenant to the land, but also of other rights and privileges that have previously been enjoyed by the owner and occupier of the land. Thus, the purchaser will acquire all such rights with the need for express words in the conveyance. The significance of the provisions is that there wording is so wide the purchaser will acquire even those privileges that were previously enjoyed only by way of permission of the vendor- that is, the provisions have the effect of converting mere licenses into easements. In International Tea Stores Ltd v Hobbs, D owed two houses, he lets one of them to a tenant for business purposes, he frequently gave permission to the manager of the said business to pass and repass across his (D’s) house. The tenant of the reversion later purchased the property let, nothing being expressed in the conveyance of any right of way across the yard. It was held that he had acquired an easement of way by virtue of s 9 of the Conveyancing Act 1973, since the statute was wide enough to convert mere licences into easements. The provisions apply whenever there is a conveyance of land. It has been held that ‘conveyance’ includes not only a conveyance on sale of the fee simple, but also renewal of a lease, provided that it is made by a deed or writing and not merely by word of mouth. In Wright v Macadam, M let a top-floor flat in his house to W for one week. After the end of one week, W continued in possession as a statutory tenant. A year later, M gave W permission to use a shed in the garden (in occupation of M) to store her coal. Later, M granted a new tenancy of the flat to W by an unsealed written document that made no reference to the use of the shed. M eventually demanded that W pay additional rent for the shed. Held, W had acquired an easement to use the shed under s 9, and was entitled to an injunction to restrain further inference with her use of it. Several points emerged from the case: The word ‘conveyance’ in s 9 included a tenancy made in writing, since it passed a legal estate A right enjoyed by mere permission can pass as an easement under s 62 To pass as an easement, the right must be one know to law- that is one that is capable to of being recognized as an easement e.g. a right to use a coal shed. It was a right of a kind that could be included in a lease or conveyance by use of appropriate express words. In the circumstances of the case, it could not be said that the parties intended a merely temporary right to use the shed, since no time limit was set for the use. Download 50.55 Kb. Share with your friends:
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