How To Prevent Registration Of A Prescriptive Right Of Way

Many of us enjoy rights of way or easements without ever really thinking about them. The beneficiary may access their house or land through a neighbour's private lane. They do not own the private lane, they do not have a piece of paper granting a right of way, but they believe they are entitled to use it. They may, therefore, seek to register this right of way. But what if you want to prevent someone registering a right of way over your land?

Rights of way can come into existence without any contract or agreement and may arise from the continuous and uninterrupted use of a right of way over another's lands for a minimum period of 20 years. This is known as a prescriptive right of way. To establish a prescriptive right of way, there must be dominant and servient lands. The dominant land is the land benefitting from the right of way and the servient lands are those over which the right of way exists. Following the introduction of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act