Enquiries About Rights of Way and Easements

If your property has any rights of way, shared access arrangements, or other easements noted on the title, you can expect the buyer's solicitor to ask about them during conveyancing. Easement enquiries are among the most frequently raised additional enquiries, and how you handle them directly affects whether the sale moves forward smoothly or stalls.

This guide explains the typical enquiries you will face, what documentation you need to prepare, and how to respond in a way that satisfies the buyer's solicitor without unnecessary delay. For broader background on easements and how they affect a sale, see our guide on rights of way and easements when selling.

How easement enquiries arise

When the buyer's solicitor reviews your title documents from HM Land Registry, they examine the title register in detail. The register is divided into three sections:

• Section A (Property Register) — describes the property and may note rights that benefit it (such as a right of way over a neighbour's land)
• Section B (Proprietorship Register) — records who owns the property and any restrictions on their ability to deal with it
• Section C (Charges Register) — lists charges and encumbrances that burden the property, including easements granted to others

Easements typically appear in Section A (where they benefit your property) and Section C (where they burden your property — meaning someone else has a right over your land). The buyer's solicitor will raise enquiries about any easement entry they find, particularly those in Section C that could affect the buyer's use of the property.

In addition, the buyer's solicitor will review your answers to Section 5 of the TA6 form (Rights and Informal Arrangements) and compare them against the title entries. Any discrepancy between what you have disclosed and what appears on the title will trigger further investigation.

Common easement enquiries and how to respond

The following are the most frequently raised easement-related enquiries, based on common practice reported by the Law Society and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.

Nature and extent of the easement

Typical question: "Please confirm the nature and extent of the right of way / easement noted in entry [X] of the Charges Register."

How to respond: Refer to the specific title register entry and explain in practical terms what the easement involves. For example: "The entry refers to a right of way on foot only over the path running along the southern boundary of the property, as shown coloured brown on the title plan. This path is used by the occupants of [neighbouring address] to access their rear garden. It has been in use throughout our ownership."

Whether the easement is currently exercised

Typical question: "Is the right of way / easement currently being exercised? If so, by whom and how frequently?"

How to respond: Give an honest, factual answer. If the right of way is in regular use, say so and describe the pattern of use. If it has not been used for many years, state that clearly. Do not overstate the frequency of use to try to make it sound less burdensome — the buyer's solicitor needs accurate information to advise their client.

Impact on the buyer's intended use

Typical question: "Does the easement restrict what the property owner can do with the land affected by it?"

How to respond: Be straightforward. If the easement means the buyer cannot build on a particular area, or must keep a pathway clear, say so. Your solicitor can help you frame the answer accurately by reference to the legal wording of the easement in the title register. For more on how easements affect what a buyer can do, see our guide on selling a property with an easement.

Maintenance responsibilities

Typical question: "Who is responsible for maintaining the area affected by the easement?"

How to respond: Check the wording of the easement in your title register. Some easements include express maintenance obligations; others are silent on the matter. If the easement does not specify, the general legal position under English common law is that the person who benefits from the easement (the dominant owner) is responsible for maintaining it. Your solicitor can confirm the position.

Informal access arrangements not on the title

Typical question: "Are there any informal arrangements with neighbours regarding access, shared use of land, or services that are not recorded on the title?"

How to respond: Disclose any informal arrangements fully. This includes handshake agreements about using a shared driveway, arrangements for neighbours to cross your land, shared use of a boundary wall, or any arrangement for services (such as drainage pipes) running under your land. Section 5 of the TA6 specifically asks about these. Failure to disclose can amount to misrepresentation.

Documentation you need to prepare

Having the right documents ready before enquiries arrive can significantly reduce the number of rounds. The following should be assembled as early as possible:

When indemnity insurance helps

Indemnity insurance can resolve certain easement-related concerns without the need to obtain additional documentation or resolve legal uncertainty. Common scenarios where it is used include:

• Unknown or unclear easements. Where the title register refers to an easement in a historic deed that cannot be located, indemnity insurance can protect the buyer against the risk that the easement is more onerous than anticipated.
• Possible prescriptive easements. Where there is a concern that a neighbour may have acquired a right of way by long use, but no formal claim has been made, indemnity insurance can cover the risk.
• Minor technical breaches. Where the terms of an easement have been technically breached (for example, by placing plant pots on a right-of-way path), indemnity insurance can cover the risk of enforcement.

As with all indemnity insurance, both the buyer's solicitor and their mortgage lender must agree to accept the policy. The cost is typically between thirty and two hundred pounds, and the policy is usually arranged by the seller's solicitor. For more on how enquiries work in general, see our guide to conveyancing enquiries explained.

Common misunderstandings about easements

Easement enquiries often cause confusion because sellers misunderstand the legal position. The following are the most common misunderstandings:

"The easement is on the title so the buyer should just accept it"

While the buyer can see that the easement exists from the title register, they need to understand exactly what it means in practice. The buyer's solicitor is required to explain the practical implications to their client before exchange, which is why they raise enquiries about it. The fact that the easement is already on the title does not relieve you of the obligation to provide factual information about how it operates in practice.

"If nobody has used the right of way for years, it no longer exists"

This is incorrect. Under English law, an easement that has been expressly granted by deed does not expire through non-use. It remains on the title register and continues to exist as a legal right. Only an easement acquired by prescription (long use) can potentially be lost through abandonment, and even then the legal threshold for proving abandonment is very high. The Court of Appeal confirmed this principle in Benn v Hardinge (1992), holding that mere non-use, even for many years, does not in itself constitute abandonment.

"Informal arrangements do not need to be disclosed"

Informal arrangements must be disclosed on the TA6 form. The buyer's solicitor needs to know about them because they could crystallise into legal rights over time (through prescriptive acquisition), and they may affect the buyer's intended use of the property. Failing to disclose informal arrangements is a common cause of post-completion disputes and potential misrepresentation claims.

Practical tips for handling easement enquiries

1. Review your title register before listing. Download official copies from HM Land Registry and read the entries in Sections A and C carefully. Identify any easements and prepare a plain-English summary of what each one involves.
2. Complete TA6 Section 5 thoroughly. Answer every question about rights and informal arrangements with specific details and context. See our guide on TA6 Section 5: Rights and Informal Arrangements.
3. Take photographs. Visual evidence of the easement area — the path, shared driveway, access route, or service run — can help the buyer's solicitor understand the practical position quickly.
4. Be honest about use. If a right of way is actively used, say so. Attempting to downplay the frequency or impact of use will likely be discovered and can undermine trust in the transaction.
5. Ask your solicitor to locate the original grant. If the title register refers to a conveyance or transfer deed that contains the full easement wording, having a copy available saves the buyer's solicitor from having to request it separately.

Sources and further reading

• HM Land Registry — Practice Guide 62: Easements (gov.uk/government/publications/easements-claimed-by-prescription)
• Law Society of England and Wales — Conveyancing Protocol (5th edition) and TA6 guidance (lawsociety.org.uk)
• Land Registration Act 2002 — Schedule 3 (overriding interests) and sections on easements (legislation.gov.uk)
• Prescription Act 1832 — Acquisition of easements by long use (legislation.gov.uk)
• Statutory Declarations Act 1835 — Requirements for making statutory declarations (legislation.gov.uk)
• Misrepresentation Act 1967 — Liability for inaccurate property information (legislation.gov.uk)
• Benn v Hardinge [1992] EWCA Civ 7 — Court of Appeal authority on non-abandonment through non-use
• Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) — Regulatory standards (clc.gov.uk)
• RICS — Guidance on rights of way and boundary disputes (rics.org)
• Gov.uk — How to get copies of title documents from HM Land Registry (gov.uk/search-property-information-service)

Frequently asked questions