Land Titles Act 1993 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 10 · Easements
98. Implied easements for passage of water, electricity, drainage, gas and sewerage for development
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2014.
There is implied in respect of each lot of land which forms part of the same development (called hereinafter the lot) as follows:
land
“land” means —(a)the surface of any defined parcel of the earth, so much of the subterranean space below and so much of the column of airspace above the surface whether or not held apart from the surface as is reasonably necessary for the proprietor’s use and enjoyment, and includes any estate or interest therein and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto; or(b)any parcel of airspace or any subterranean space whether or not held apart from the surface of the earth and described with certainty by reference to a plan approved by the Chief Surveyor and filed with the Authority, and includes any estate or interest therein and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto,and where the context so permits, the proprietorship of land includes natural rights to air, light, water and support and the right of access to any highway on which the land abuts;
in favour of the proprietor of the lot, and as appurtenant thereto, easements for the passage or provision of water, electricity, drainage, gas and sewerage through or by means of any sewers, pipes, wires, cables or ducts to the extent to which those sewers, pipes, wires, cables or ducts are capable of being used in connection with the enjoyment of the lot;
as against the proprietor of the lot, and to which the lot is subject, easements for the passage or provision of water, electricity, drainage, gas and sewerage through or by means of any sewers, pipes, wires, cables or ducts, as appurtenant to every other lot capable of enjoying such easements.
All ancillary rights and obligations reasonably necessary to make the easements mentioned in subsection (1) effective are implied.
The easements implied by this section entitle the proprietor of the dominant tenement to enter on the servient tenement at all reasonable times to repair, renew or restore any sewers, pipes, cables, wires or ducts as appears necessary but the proprietor of the dominant tenement must make good any damage caused to the servient tenement.
proprietor
“proprietor” means any person who appears from the land‑register to be the person entitled to an estate or interest in any land which has been brought under the provisions of this Act, and includes a mortgagee, chargee and lessee;
In respect of all the easements implied by this section, there is also implied a covenant, binding all parties enjoying the benefit of such easements, to contribute to the cost of construction, maintenance or repair of the sewers, pipes, cables, wires or ducts — 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 binds any successor in title enjoying the benefit of the easements except that such a covenant is not implied where the proprietor of any lot is able to show that that proprietor is entitled to enjoy the easements free from the liability to contribute.
instrument
“instrument” includes a transfer, lease, mortgage, transmission application, charge and any other application, or any other document in writing relating to any disposition, devolution or acquisition of land or any claim to or vesting of interest in land;
Subsection (4) does not render any person liable to contribute to expenditure incurred at a time before the person became, or after the person ceased to be, a proprietor of the tenement to which the liability is attached.
Unity of seisin of 2 or more lots does not destroy the easements implied by this section but on the cessation of such unity, they continue in full force and effect as if the seisin had never been united.
The easements implied by this section are enforceable without any memorial or notification on the folios, and accordingly section 97(5) and (6) does not apply thereto.
In this section —
“development” means any land subdivided into 2 or more lots under section 12(3) of the Planning Act 1998 where those lots are affected by common easements for the passage or provision of water, electricity, drainage, gas or sewerage that are capable of being created as cross easements by an instrument and enjoyed as such by those lots;
“lot” means a parcel of land forming part of a development, to which the Chief Surveyor has allotted a survey lot number.
Chief Surveyor
“Chief Surveyor” means the Chief Surveyor appointed under section 3 of the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act 1998;