ABSTRACT
In Chapters 7 and 8, we examined in some detail two important ways in which one person could enjoy limited rights over the land of another. In many respects, these easements (Chapter 7) and freehold covenants (Chapter 8) were seen to be similar, especially where the effect on the ‘servient’ or ‘burdened’ land was restrictive in that it prevented the current owner from engaging in some activity on their own land. Of course, both easements and restrictive covenants are proprietary in nature; they are interests in land that may ‘run’ with the benefited and burdened land and are not personal to the parties that created them. However, a moment’s thought will reveal that easements and freehold covenants can cover only a small fraction of the situations in which one person may wish to use the land of another. For example, what is the position where I ask my neighbour if I can park my car on his land, or my children play football there? Again, what are my rights if I pay an entrance charge to go to a play or a film on someone else’s land, or use a neighbour’s garden for the day for a party, or wish to store something on his land or in his outbuildings? All of these are activities undertaken on another person’s land, but they may not fall within the realm of easements or freehold covenants.1
