SQE1 easements: what you must know and how it is tested

SQE1 easements questions test whether a right is an easement, how it was created and whether it binds a buyer of registered land. Check the four characteristics first, then the method of creation. Read it with the wider Land Law guide.

The rules to apply

Re Ellenborough Park sets four characteristics: a dominant and a servient tenement; the right accommodates the dominant land (it benefits the land, not just its owner); different owners or occupiers; and the right is capable of being granted, meaning it is sufficiently definite and does not amount to exclusive possession of the servient land (Batchelor v Marlow on parking). The servient owner is not required to spend money.

A legal easement must be equivalent to a freehold or a leasehold term and is created by deed. In registered land an express legal easement must also be registered to take effect at law (Land Registration Act 2002, s27). Implied legal easements and those by prescription take effect without registration. They bind a buyer for value as overriding interests only if obvious on a reasonable inspection, known to the buyer, or used within the last year (Schedule 3 para 3). An equitable easement is never overriding and must be protected by a notice on the register.

Implied grant. By necessity: no access at all. By common intention. Under Wheeldon v Burrows on a grant of part of the land, the buyer gets quasi-easements that are continuous and apparent, necessary for the reasonable enjoyment of the land, and were used by the seller for the benefit of the part sold. Under s62 of the Law of Property Act 1925, a conveyance passes with the land all rights enjoyed with it, which can turn a licence into an easement if there was previously diversity of occupation (Wright v Macadam). Implied reservation in favour of the seller is limited to necessity and common intention.

Prescription needs use for 20 years, as of right, meaning without force, secrecy or permission (nec vi, nec clam, nec precario). Easements end by express release, by unity of seisin and ownership, or by abandonment, which needs clear intention and not just non use.

Traps examiners use

• Treating a right to park exclusively as an easement.
• Applying Wheeldon v Burrows to a reservation by the seller.
• Forgetting registration for an express legal easement in registered land.
• Forgetting s62 turns an existing licence into an easement on a conveyance.
• Assuming non use alone extinguishes an easement.
• Missing the same owner point: you cannot have an easement over your own land.

Worked question 1

Samir owns plots A and B. For years he has used a path across plot A to reach plot B, which is visible. He sells plot B to Teja and keeps plot A. The transfer is silent about the path. Teja claims a right of way. Which statement is correct?

• A. Teja has no right because the transfer did not mention it.
• B. Teja may have an implied easement under Wheeldon v Burrows, as the path is continuous and apparent, necessary for reasonable enjoyment, and used by Samir for plot B.
• C. Teja has a right only if she uses the path for 20 years.
• D. Teja has a right only if the path is registered first.
• E. Teja has a profit, not an easement.

Answer: B. Under Wheeldon v Burrows the buyer of part gets quasi-easements that meet the conditions. Facts here fit. A ignores implied grant, and C is prescription, which is a different route. D is wrong because implied easements need no express registration. E mislabels the right.

Worked question 2

Una owns a house and claims an easement to park her car in a marked bay on her neighbour's driveway, using the bay all day and every day, so that the neighbour has no practical use of it. Is it capable of being an easement?

• A. Yes, because parking is a right of way.
• B. Yes, because the bay is marked.
• C. No, because it takes exclusive possession of the servient land and fails the requirement to be capable of grant.
• D. No, because easements cannot involve vehicles.
• E. Yes, because she has used it for over 20 years.

Answer: C. An easement cannot leave the servient owner without reasonable use of their land. Batchelor v Marlow applies, and the claim fails on the fourth Ellenborough characteristic. The 20 years would matter only if the right could exist.

Checklist before you move on

• Dominant and servient land, different owners?
• Does it accommodate the dominant land?
• Capable of grant: definite, no exclusive possession?
• How created: express, implied, s62, prescription?
• Registered land: registration, overriding interest conditions, notice.
• Has it been released or abandoned?

Test yourself on more original questions in our SQE1 practice questions.

Questions

Related

• SQE1 Land Law
• SQE1 practice questions: how to answer single best answer items
• SQE1 mock: how to time, pace and review it

Sources: SRA: SQE1 Assessment Specification (from 1 September 2026); Land Registration Act 2002; Law of Property Act 1925, section 62. Checked 10 November 2026.