Clause 99

Where the competent authority has approved the development and subdivision of any land comprised in an estate before or after the commencement of this Act, there shall be implied in respect of each lot forming part of the estate (referred to hereinafter as the lot) in favour of the registered proprietor of the lot and as appurtenant thereto, easements on or over parts of the land comprised within the same estate and demarcated in an approved subdivision plan with a description in a legend endorsed thereon of the intended use to benefit the owners and occupiers of the lots described as plots in the approved subdivision plan on which premises have been erected or will be erected.

All ancillary rights and obligations reasonably necessary to make the easements referred to in subsection (1) effective shall be implied.

In respect of all the easements implied by this section, there shall also be implied a covenant binding all registered proprietors enjoying the benefit of such easements to contribute to the cost of maintenance or repair of the subject of the easements as if the easements and the covenant to contribute had been created by an instrument registered under this Act and so long as such easements subsist the covenant to contribute shall bind any successor in title enjoying the benefit of the easements except that in the case of the right to erect and maintain party walls, the implied covenant provided in this subsection shall bind only the registered proprietors of the lots on which party walls have been erected.

Subsection (3) shall not render any person liable to contribute to expenditure incurred at a time before he became, or after he ceased to be, a proprietor of the lot to which the liability attached.

The easements implied by this section shall be enforceable without any memorial or notification on the folios, and accordingly section 97(5) and (6) shall not apply thereto.

Unity of seisin of two or more lots shall not destroy the easements implied by this section but on the cessation of such unity they shall continue in full force and effect as if the seisin had never been united.

The easements implied by this section shall not apply to the lots in an estate where subdivision approval was given by the competent authority prior to the commencement of this Act and satisfactory documentary evidence has been produced to the Registrar of the completion of the transfer of any lot in the estate to a purchaser with easements expressly created in an instrument which has been executed and delivered to the purchaser.

In this section —

“competent authority” means the competent authority appointed under section 3 of the Planning Act [Cap. 232];

“estate” means land which has been subdivided into lots under the Planning Act where those lots include land intended for use as easements to be made appurtenant to other lots within the same estate as shown in the subdivision plan approved by the competent authority and issued to the Registrar; and may include undeveloped lots in the course of erection which are shown in the first subdivision plan approved by the competent authority and is capable of being subdivided as shown in one or more approved subsequent subdivision plans as and when issued by the competent authority and copies of the subdivision plans have been delivered to the Registrar;

“lot” means a parcel of land forming part of an estate to which the Chief Surveyor has allotted a Government survey lot number and also described as a “plot” in a subdivision plan approved by the competent authority under the Planning Act.