Correspondence: Andrew Francis, Serle Court, Lincoln's Inn, London WC2A 3QS, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7242 6105; E-mail: afrancis@serlecourt.co.uk

¹Andrew Francis is barrister and member of Chambers at Serle Court. His practice specialises in Rights of Light and restrictive covenants affecting freehold land. He is the co-author of Rights of Light, The Modern Law (2nd edn., 2007 — Jordans) and is the author of Restrictive Covenants and Freehold Land — a Practitioner's Guide (2nd edn., 2005, Jordans). He has appeared as counsel in the two most important recent cases on rights of light in the last two years in the Court of Appeal, Regan vs Paul Properties, and RHJ Ltd vs FT Patten (Holdings) Ltd.

Received 3 June 2008; Revised 3 June 2008.

Abstract

Rights of light are a complex subject in English Law. Developers ignore this area of law at their peril. Failure to take rights of light into account can at best result in the expense of redesigning buildings and at worst, orders of the Court ordering work to stop or work done to be pulled down. There are steps that can be taken at the first stages of development that will identify whether rights of light issues exist and what can be done about them. Planning rules do not govern rights of light so pre-planning advice on these rights is crucial. This paper sets out the law in brief and then concentrates on the questions to ask and the practical steps to take, in conjunction with expert surveyors and lawyers.