Right to light: the important check in a new home purchase

What is the right to light?

In simple terms, the right to lightis a legal requirement for a homeowner to be able to access daylight that passes over someone else's land - usually a neighbour - and through their windows (as the most common opening found in residential buildings).

However, having the right to light is not the same as having access to direct sunlight - for one thing, those personal benefits described above are almost all well-served by simply having access to daylight, regardless of whether the sun is shining, and certainly doesn't need to shine through a window. It would also be impossible to construct properties such that every window has total access to sunlight - even when it is shining.

The other point to note is that the legal position is clear on gardens: there is nothing in place to compel a neighbour to remove an obstruction (say, a fence or a tree that has grown significantly) that is blocking sunlight in part or all of your garden. This is covered by the above statement that it's the right to daylight and not direct sunlight that is covered by the legislation. 

So, even with these perhaps annoying obstructions, your garden will still have daylight coming into it, and you'll have to find another way to compromise with the neighbour.

There is a good discussion on rights to light written for an article published in the Law Society Gazette.

The legal position

In 1959, the government of the time passed legislation to dictate the rights and protect existing homeowners from losing prior light access from the construction of any new buildings.

According to a blog on the subject by BLB Solicitors, any property that has had uninterrupted access to light for more than twenty years automatically acquires rights to light (although this is not always the case as there are acceptable exceptions).

The intent of legislation, the article goes on to say, is intended for greater neighbourly harmony and to provide legal recourse in the case where an obstruction is put in place without the necessary agreements, where normal agreements can't be reached amicably.

What does the conveyancing solicitor do?

A surveyor will check any such obstructions and make a note on the subsequent report, usually with a point of note for the conveyancing solicitor to verify the position within their searches.

The searches will provide confirmation - or otherwise - from the Land Registry that the standard rights to light are fully protected. Your conveyancer will then advise you in what courses of action are available for you to take, should you wish to continue with the purchase of your new property.

Correspondingly, if you're selling a home and it's found to be contravening the law, your conveyancing solicitor can provide assistance and guidance on the next steps to ensure a sale will be completed quickly.

It's a tricky position to be in, which is why you need a professional to unpick all the legal implications in such situations. And you'll want to avoid the worry of extra expense, too.