Commercial Property Neighbour Disputes

Commercial property neighbour disputes

It is a common misconception that neighbour disputes arise only in a residential setting. But commercial property neighbour disputes arise just as frequently.

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In a commercial setting, a problem with your neighbours will likely require urgent resolution, particularly if it impacts your business’s ability to trade. Common examples of commercial property neighbour disputes are:

Nuisance

A private nuisance is when someone does something on their land that interferes with a neighbour’s enjoyment of their land. Conversely, a public nuisance affects the wider public. Typical scenarios include:

• Noise nuisance, particularly at antisocial hours, perhaps from a bar, restaurant, factory or workshop.
• Dust, smoke or other pollution from a factory or workshop.
• Water leaking onto your land from a neighbour’s land or building.

Boundaries

Boundary disputes involving commercial property are not uncommon.

See our main Boundary Disputes and Adverse Possession pages.

Rights of way

A private right of way is a form of legal easement. An easement is a right to use somebody else’s land in a certain way. We usually associate easements with vehicular or pedestrian access, but others include:

• rights of access for maintenance.
• rights of light.
• a right to run cables or pipes across somebody else’s land.

Easements arise in one of three ways:

• Expressly granted easements are explicitly stated in a document (a deed). Typically, they arise when somebody sells only part of their land, retaining some rights over the part sold. Alternatively, the portion sold may need rights over the retained land.
• Implied easements or ‘easements of necessity’ arise when somebody sells part of their land but it’s unnecessary to refer to the easement in a deed by its very nature. The classic example is where the only access to the retained land is over the land sold.
• Prescriptive easements arise if a person proves they have exercised a particular right for at least twenty years. Throughout that time, the person must exercise the right ‘without force, without secrecy, and without permission’. While the use must be continuous, it does not necessarily need to be constant.

Understandably, prescriptive easements, in particular, are often contentious, and the law in this area is complex. For more information, visit our main Easements page.

Freehold covenants

Freehold covenants are contractual promises concerning land. However, whereas restrictive covenants (i.e. you must not do something) are enforceable against future owners of the land, positive covenants (i.e. you must do something) are rarely directly enforceable against a successor in title. (Note: positive covenants can be enforceable if there is a valid Scheme of Development in place. This is sometimes known as a Building Scheme. Alternatively, where successive owners sign a deed of indemnity they will also continue to be enforceable. Finally, they may be indirectly enforceable through indemnities given by a buyer to the previous owner.)

Therefore, in practice, it’s usually just restrictive covenants that raise questions on enforceability.

For further information about the enforceability and breaches of restrictive covenants, visit our main Restrictive Covenants page.

Rights to light

Rights to light (or rights of light) means an easement giving property owners the right to enjoy the light passing over others’ land and through ‘defined apertures’ – typically, windows in their building. So, if a new development reduces the light through an aperture to such an extent that it causes a nuisance, the property owner may be able to pursue legal action.

However, it’s important to remember that the right is not to direct sunlight. Instead, rights of light entitle a property owner to a minimum level of natural illumination, not the sun’s direct rays.

Rights of light are most commonly acquired through ‘prescription‘. Generally, a property having uninterrupted enjoyment of light for at least 20 years acquires rights to light. However, the right is defeated if, before the expiry of 20 years, the light is obstructed continuously for at least one year. Creating a physical obstruction is usually impractical, but the Rights to Light Act 1959 provides a hypothetical obstruction mechanism by:

• serving a notice on the relevant property owner and
• registering a local land charge.

Two remedies are available to the court for breaching rights of light, damages and/or an injunction. An injunction may require the demolition of part or all of the offending development unless some structural change can remedy the situation. But that is likely to prove expensive.

For further information on this often complex area, see Rights of light explained.

Access to Neighbouring Land Act claims

Occasionally, access is required to a neighbour’s property to perform maintenance work to (or affecting) your land or a wall, building, or other structure standing on it. Neighbours are often accommodating if for no other reason than they may need you to reciprocate one day. However, if your neighbour refuses, you must consider your rights, including those under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992.

See: Access to a neighbour’s property for maintenance: what are my rights?