Q: My
partner bought a lot of land in Tobago; the vendors were supposed to complete
the access road. After 18 months they had not, so we offered to do this as we
were at a stalemate. The vendors agreed, but a person who owns land at the
bottom of the hill leading to the land has refused to allow us to cross his
land. apparently he had previously agreed. The deed shows the road reserve
marked on it.
A: If the location of your land resembles "B" in the above picture, you have to make an application to the court to grant an easement by necessity. Since you said the deed shows that the road has already been earmarked, it should be easy for you to get that order.
An easement
is a permanent right authorizing a person or party to use land owned by another
for a particular purpose. There are two types of easements:
Is there
anything we can do??? It seems we will never get our home and we cannot sell
because of this dispute any way we liked the plot/location and wanted this to
be our home.
NB: The terms “easement” and “right-of-way” are often used
interchangeably, but I don't agree. The
difference between the two is that a right-of-way is passage only, while the easement
is usage as well. The line can become blurred in many situations, but that is
the basic difference.
A right of
way is a right for someone to travel over another person’s private property. The
right is “attached” to the property of the person who has the right, which means
that if that person sells the property, the right of way automatically passes
with the property to the purchaser. This is confirmed in section 16(1) of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1939 - Chapter 56:01, as amended.
- Affirmative - gives the easement holder the right to do something on the grantor (owner) of the easement's land, such as travel on a road through the grantor's land
- Negative - allows the easement holder to prevent the grantor of the easement from doing something on his land that is lawful for him to do, such as building a structure that obscures light or a scenic view
Dominant and servient estate
As defined
by Evershed MR in Re
Ellenborough Park [1956], an
easement requires the existence of at least two parties; the party gaining the
benefit of the easement is the dominant estate (or dominant tenement),
while the party granting the burden is the servient estate (or servient
tenement).
For example,
the owner of parcel A holds an easement to use a driveway on parcel B to gain
access to A's house. Here, parcel A is the dominant estate, receiving the
benefit, and parcel B is the servient estate, granting the benefit or suffering
the burden.
Ways to create easements and rights-of-way
- Expressly - "granted" or "reserved" in a deed or other legal instrument
- Implied - not
recorded or explicitly stated, but reflect the practices and customs of use for
a property
- Prescription – acquired by 20 years use without force, without secrecy and without the oral or written consent of the servient land owner
- Necessity - if there was only one access road to a house, the law will not allow the road owner to deny the owner of the property access to their land, if that is the only access available. See picture below for example.
I assume that Rights of Way and Easement will also be applicable in terms of allowing the passage of drains - underground or above ground. I am considering buying a property on a hill but the main drain reserve is at the bottom of the hill with no drainage from my property to the main drain reserve. I would thus need to connect a drain from my property through another lot of the owner's property below in order to filter into the main drain reserve. Based on the above, it is clear that I would need to define and factor in an area for Right of Way for drains in the deed of conveyance. Would I also be able to use the area over the drain (if it is underground) as a footpath to the bottom of the hill? Do I need to indicate both uses (drainage and footpath) in deed or just one will do? Which applies in this case: right of way or easement?
ReplyDeleteIt would be wise to mention both and it will be a right of way because it concerns passage and usage.
DeleteCan some one still request ease of access even if they have an alternative route that is under developed?
ReplyDeleteNo, it must be the only way, unless of course, the other route is dangerous.
DeleteA parcel of land formerly had acess to it through a public acess road, but after subdivision of the lands, a parcel of land remained without any road acess.One of the present owners is trying to forcibly use our property to acess his property and he has obtained false declarations stating that he and others have been using the area to get to his property.We were not part of the original parcel of lands but are adjacent property.Should we provide the easement of necessity or others who were part of the original parcel of land.
ReplyDeleteOnly if that is the only way they can access their property.
DeleteQ. Can easement be successfully applied for in this situation? The land in question is surrounded by other properties on three(3) sides and a stream on one. It is divided amongst several persons down the middle so that each beneficiary was alloted their parcel on either side of a road reserve as applied by the surveyor. However, the access to this road reserve which would serve ALL beneficiaries simultaneously is through someone elses land then over a stream. There is a dirt road that already leads down to the stream, just opposite the road reserve. It may be that each owner can reach his property through individual negotiation with several of the surrounding owners but that would require at least one bridge and numerous accesses rather than this one access.
ReplyDeleteThere is a walk way on a property that my neighbor an I use we started to use the walk way As a drive way the owner of the property does not want any vehicle passing can she do that
ReplyDeleteHello. My mother and I have been living on a parcel of land for over thirty five (35) years now and have been using an access road to get to our property. A contractor bought the house, next door to us which was leased to Mr. Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler back in the 60s to 70s. I stated, he bought the house because the land is state land. When we did a search, it returned with the land still being in Butler's name and attached is a will made out to his daughter. We also contacted Butler's daughter who is still alive and she confirmed that she only sold the house and never transfered the lease. The contractor is now claiming the road is part of his property and has blocked access , hampering a number of persons from getting to their homes. Does this contractor has the right to do this.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely not!
DeleteI'm certain that this will end up in court.
The matter is in court. The magistrates court that is. After the last hearing the magistrate said this matter would have to go to the high court because their is very little he could do. The contractor is claiming that he has a deed. My question is how can he have a deed for state land since 1981 and it is not registered, because the search, has returned with the land being leased to Butler. The parcel of land that we are on we have a Certificate of Comfort for it which we got since 2000 and my mother got the OK to build there from land and survey long before. We even have a house number and was paying house tax to the borough corporation. These different departments used this same road to get to our house because it is the only access road to our property. One other thing the contractor placed a 40' container across the road. When the matter reaches high court what would be the process to get him to move it at least till the matter is settled.
DeleteOne more question I would like to ask. When the matter reaches the high court, would the judge make him remove the container? Until the matter is complete. Seeing that the road is the only access, or do we have to file for an injunction or something? Thanks in advance.
DeleteMost likely an injunction would have to be filed.
DeleteDo you have a Lawyer already?
My property is bordering 2 roadways (north and south), with the northern end of the property being the front of the property. Due to the narrow cut of the land house was built with the intention of using southern end as access to rear end of house (please note we are NOT passing through anyones property only Government roadway), as the final stages of construction of perimeter wall and gateway was being concluded, neighbors to the rear/southern end whom have their properties south east and south west of respective roadway threw debris, a load of gravel and placed plants to prevent access via vehicle to my private property. They said I can only access my property through a small walk in gateway not by car. I have been to The Arima Borough Corporation and the Town Superintendent has no problem with us building a drive through but the neighbors still have the obstructions in our way. What is my recourse of action. Please take note the roadway is not private road but a Government road being maintained by the Borough of Arima. Thank you in advance
ReplyDeleteGood morning
ReplyDeleteCan a private landowner group prevent me from entering my own property citing failure to pay maintenance fees one of which I was never bound by?
You're asking me a question in abstract and I'll be stupid to respond without more information.
DeleteCan I take someone to court for blocking my access to my garage
ReplyDeleteLong or short term blockage?
DeleteI would like the answer to this question as well please. It is a family property, active and only driveway, In laws insist on his tenant parking their permanently. I have to squeeze my way out or ask them to remove the vehicle. Can I take legal action to prevent them from parking there?
DeleteThe owner of a six acre block of land occupied by tents (Renters) for the past 20 to 70 years, had this land surveyed so it can be divided into two parties. When they did the survey the showed roads and got the approval by the director of town and country/planning. The survey plan actually was done contary to what is existing. They drew roads passing through the tentants property and aslo a road reserve passing through a private property to access the public road. Can you advise what can be don to correct this?
ReplyDeleteI'm not really seeing this as a legal issue. I think you should go back to T&C.
Deletewhat is my rights, when a neighbor has 'dropped' a load of gravel preventing me from accessing the public road from my property. The gravel in question was dumped by the neighbor in full view of all the workmen and myself and I was told that I must pay the man $100,000 for me to access the public roadway, mind you am not crossing anyone's property. My property has front access to a public road and rear access bordering the said public roadway. Help please
ReplyDeleteYou should move the gravel and then take him to Magistrate's court (would cost about $5) to recover your money.
DeleteGood day, as mentioned with my problem with the gravel, I would like to know, in Trinidad is there any law preventing a citizen from accessing his property from both front and rear ends, bearing in mind the front is for a dead end road and the rear is also for another dead end road. My property being the only property with access to both roads but neighbors (not bounding my property) as declared 'war' if I access my property from my rear end via a driveway saying that is against the law. Mind you I have requested permission from Town and Country and the Local Government agencies both have declared they have no issue with me using the rear end for vehicular access. I currently have a walk through gate of which these said neighbors have no problem with but they insist that I must not gain access to my property with any vehicle from the rear end. Its a government roadway and not a gated community. Thank you in advance for your advice
ReplyDeleteYou have permission from T&C and Local Government, so why are you bothering with your neighbours?
DeleteGood Day Trinbago Rights,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, thank you for provided such rich information to the public.
I currently have an issue where I live. The situation is my family and I use a access road to gain entry to where I live. In the deed for the land, the agreement was for a 3 meters (10 feet) wide access road to gain entry. My family and I have been living there for the past 11 years. Now the persons renting to the front of us has built a drain on one side of the roadway and on the other side planted a steel post which narrowed the entry width to 8 feet. Also their housing structure is on the roadway. Now our 10 wheeler truck cannot enter the roadway and our vehicles barely can fit. Any advice now what can be done?
There are two options here: mediation or High Court.
DeleteIf it goes to court, you'll be filing for an injunction...
If a person is granted a right of way, can other adjoining lots gain access to that road way even if they do not need it out of necessity? for example if they already have a front gate and want a back gate coming out on someone else's private road?
ReplyDeleteHello and good day Trinbago Rights
ReplyDeleteI currently have a problem,my father and i purchased a piece of property similar to the example given with the easement i have plot A but a roadway was given to us that we built and added drainage and so fort the second plot which is B was bought according to the size of property that was left after the road was given i am now in the position after maintaining this road way for 25 years the owner who has never built anything on the property now sends sewage trucks to park on the property and they are destroying the road not to mention a neighbour next to plot B has started storing junk like old cars and parts old house parts and has the place in a real state can you please tell me or advise me about what can be done and the road is named after my father and is still private,thanks for your help.
I am interested in purchasing a parcel of land that has a road reserve that connects to a main road. Do I still need to obtain approval for access to the main road and who is responsible for the construction of the road?
ReplyDeleteGood day and happy new year to you and to all the readers of this blog!
ReplyDeleteOn our land there is an acces path to the neighbour's place. Since we want to secure our property by building a surrounding wall, we offered him to build steps on the edge of his land in order to provide another acces. In case he declines our offer, does trinidad&tobago law still alow us to close the path? In advance we thank you for your answer!
What type of access? How long has it been in use? I'm guessing your neighbours don't agree? Is there another access for them?
DeleteGood day again! The only access now is 3ft narrow path to their property leading over our yard, passing right in front of our house entrance. In old times that has always been in use but over the last twenty years nobody has been living on neighbour's land (there was some relative taking care of the house occasionally). Now somebody returned from foreign and wants to fix up the place and live there. We have been planning to build the surrounding walls for some time now for safety reasons, so when the new neighbour appeared we simply offered to build steps for them to access their land directly from the main road without crossing our land. The neighbour is avoiding to give us an answer to our offer so we are thinking that he probably doesn't agree with our solution. The only other possible access to their land could be over the government land on the other side of their lot, but the terrain there is quite steep.
ReplyDeleteGood day to you,
ReplyDeleteWhat is the procedure for applying for easement?
The only reasonable entrance to our proprty is currentky blocked by the neighbors makeshift gate as they say that it is their property. What can i do?
Get a Lawyer.
DeleteCurrently we do not have drainage in our property, the cadastral drawings show a space which we assume was for the drain but it was not "labelled" as such. the neighbours don't want us cutting into their land. what can I do ?
ReplyDeletehi can you please tell me if it is legal for a land owner to block up a main drain from my property that has been there for at least.30 yrs hence causing flooding presently to my property every time it rains or we use water and it also causes my toilet to backup which has to be cleaned on a regular basis .the owner does not even live in this country and has a rental property there thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Good Day. I'd like to ask some advise. We currently have a Neighbour who's parcel of land is adjacent to ours. Both of our parcels have direct access to the main road. He has, however, wired his compound in and chosen to build his access gate onto a private roadway we maintain. He has since been using our access for over 16 years BUT have then built a second gate further in. We've tried multiple times over the years to speak to him about removing his gate and putting it to the front of his land where he can access to road. When we try to speak with him he simply pretends we're not there or runs into his house. Now this is actually my mothers Brother and it was her property before she sold it to me. Although she was aware of what he was trying to do, she was emotional about how he had stopped speaking with the family ~18 years ago and she never documented her attempts or decided to take strong opposition. Now that I live here and he continues to refuse to have any discussion or even say good day, I'd like to know what action I can take to get him to put his access on the road. Currently he is creating a security risk for me and my newly started family as he refuses to alert us or close back our gates
ReplyDeleteI live in San Juan area and cars keeps parking and sometimes for days in front of my gate entrance. Not my car park but d gate entrance and having their vehicle night over for days without moving. Is this possible? Do they have d right to do this?
ReplyDeleteGood day,
ReplyDeleteI would like to know what to do in the following situations:
There is a road reserve which has not been "handed over" to the regional corporation. My only access to my property is via this road, which has been hindered multiple times by the neighbor. The latest hindrance is a ditch dug across the roadway (dug at the starting point from my property and after his property, thus access to his property is not affected) and the responsible person has refused to fill it. What can I do to regain my access and prevent further situations like this?
Secondly, leading from the first, the reasoning for the ditch, as stated by this person, is to divert the water away from his property because "his material was washing away". Please note this person does not have a drain at all in front his property for me to connect a drain. What can I do about this drainage situation?
Any guidance will be appreciated.
A supermarket owner built a warehouse directly on the road edge and constructed a concrete base on the roadway to operate a forklift to lift loads to the first floor opposite my house entrance.Heavy goods vehicles also use the area to offload goods daily and these have often reach toppling stages on ocassions and once had fell in my yard damaging my garage.The roadside drain was blocked causing water to flow in my building. The corporation has visited and done nothing. Is it that the corporation has failed to serve notice to the building owner. Approval was also given to operate a noisy forklift although there is no pedestrian walk or barricade on this steep hilly road.It's like some public servant has ab sconded their duties.What can I do to have this addressed ?
ReplyDeletei would like to know what the law is on how much feet away from my neighbours wall ,can I construct my shed
ReplyDeleteContact Town & Country.
DeleteHi. If you live in a back lot that have been divided among everyone but the persons in the front lots build their houses where u no longer have proper access to back property but have a little track that if you use a big umbrella to walk down it bounces on the wall of one of the house and the other has a step on the other side. Both have driveways infront and you have to park your vehicle on the road because you cannot pass through the little walkway to park on your property. Is there anyway or laws to get poroper access to the backlot? So we wont be the only ones parking on the road which is kind of unsafe
ReplyDeleteLegal action is the only option.
DeleteGood afternoon,
ReplyDeleteI have been battling for years to get my neighbours waste water that runs onto my property to stop. At first we were not the official owners and the health Inspector gave us a around. Then last year we purchased the land that m family had lived on for three generations.Now the health Inspector is giving us different responses such as give the people time, and such. There seems to be some bond between the neighbour and the health Inspector. I've been to the ombudsmen which gave temporary relief. Can I present them with a pre-action protocol letter? Do I have a case? Thanks much for your response.
Can someone build their property on a road reserve and have access only on it???
ReplyDeleteIf you buy a passle of land from caroney with no road passing threw but your nabiour have a map with a road passing threw what is my rights
ReplyDeleteScenario: Ever since I know myself, (I’m 43 years) at my grand parents property, there were no vehicular access available. When we visited, we usually park at the neighbors, north of my grands property and walk through their property to get access. This was done for years. I recently found out from relatives and from drawings that the existing road to the southern side of the property was supposed to be extended directly to the back of my grands property giving access to vehicles. The neighbor to south has occupied this supposedly road area with a garden. I would like to pursue getting this access to my grands property. Do I have a legal/legitimate case to pursue?
ReplyDeleteHi good day there is a agricultural road built by the ministry of agriculture but is on private property and for the past 20 years I have been using the road to my get to my garage but now the owners want to put a chain and deny me access to get to my garage what can I do
ReplyDeleteI live at the back of Party A. There is an access road at the side of A which is access to my property. Party A also have access since when the land was being surveyed and deed, they wanted access to this road although they have access from the front of their house. Nevertheless, I decided that we can both enjoy the facility. Now Party A is creating mischief by blocking people and customers from coming to my place, planting shrubs and having a tree overbranching onto the road which obstructs my view to the roadway. this is also a hazard to my kids and vehicle since branches can break and fall on us when utilizing the road (the tree is pommecythere so branches tend to rot and fall off easily). can I have this road to be lone access to myself? If not, what is the remedy for this?
ReplyDeleteHi good morning,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted some advice we live in a private road it is owned by my dad and uncle.It was leased to Petrotrin but the contract is up we have no problem with them using it to check there well, but the road is usually fixed by myself or heritage according to the damages. A contractor recently began developing the land to the back and created an access road for the plots of land but his trucks are passing and damaging the road. My question is can we stop them from passing ?
Unless there's another access, I don't see that happening. And if the issue is that cost of repairing the road was yours, why not place the responsibility on the contractor at the end of the project?
DeleteGood morning
ReplyDeleteI am hoping you can assist me with a current issue I’m being faced with. I am a farmer and I have a 2 acres plot of land to which I plant my crops.. the access road I use (only access) is currently being blocked by and individual who “claims” to own this road way.. he has now started to block this said passage and prohibits me from entering my land.. on further investigation I acquired a cadastral from a registered land surveyor which clear slows the roadway labeled as “caroni trace” it also outline his boundaries which proves that he does not own this roadway.. what is the next recommended step.. and how to I get him to move the materials (gravel) he has dumped in the middle of the entrance
Get an Attorney experienced in land law. Avoid the big name quacks.
DeleteHi good day my father is one of three brothers that inherited land the road that we use is of the main road we have been living using it for 34 years. the land is side by side so we really don't need to ask for access. About 14 years ago they surveyed and about two feet of land right of the main road is theirs which the surveyor said we can't block our road so he left it that way.as of lately they are saying they want to block it.can they do that..it's the only way we can get to our home..or it's a driveway
ReplyDelete