Easements & profits
An easement is a right enjoyed by one piece of land over neighbouring land; a profit à prendre is a right to take something from another's land. Both can be legal or equitable.
What "Easements & profits" covers
- The four Re Ellenborough Park characteristics: a dominant and servient tenement, the right must accommodate the dominant land, diversity of ownership/occupation, and the right must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant.
- An easement cannot amount to exclusive or joint occupation of the servient land (Batchelor v Marlow / Moncrieff v Jamieson debate on car parking).
- Acquisition: express grant/reservation by deed; implied grant (necessity, common intention, the rule in Wheeldon v Burrows, or LPA 1925 s.62); or prescription (long use).
- Wheeldon v Burrows implies into a grant quasi-easements that are continuous and apparent, necessary for reasonable enjoyment, and in use at the date of the transfer.
- LPA 1925 s.62 can convert a licence or precarious right into an easement on a conveyance where there was prior diversity of occupation.
- Prescription requires use as of right (nec vi, nec clam, nec precario) for the period — common law, lost modern grant, or the Prescription Act 1832.
- A legal easement in registered land granted after first registration must be registered (LRA 2002 s.27); certain impliedly created easements can be overriding under Sch 3 para 3.
Key cases & statutes
The authorities and provisions most likely to matter for this subtopic:
How it's tested in SQE1
SQE1 uses single best answer questions: a short factual scenario, one precise question, and five options of which only one is the best answer on the law applied to the facts. For easements & profits, expect to be asked what the correct legal position is, what a party may or must do, or which outcome follows — with more than one option looking arguable. Reading the facts carefully and eliminating the near-misses is the skill that earns the mark.
Where candidates lose marks
- Claiming an easement where the dominant and servient land are in common ownership and occupation.
- Confusing the Wheeldon v Burrows conditions with the operation of LPA 1925 s.62.
- Overlooking that a right amounting to exclusive possession cannot be an easement.
Learn and practise this subtopic
A guided lesson and exam-style questions on easements & profits.
FAQ
Is easements & profits tested on SQE1?
Yes — easements & profits is part of the SQE1 Land Law syllabus (FLK2) and can appear in single best answer questions.
How is easements & profits examined in SQE1?
SQE1 tests it by application: you're given a realistic scenario and choose the single best answer from five options. The focus is on using the law correctly, not reciting it — knowing the leading authorities (Re Ellenborough Park [1956], LPA 1925 s.62) helps.