Often when the land is purchased in peri-urban1 and rural area buyers make certain assumptions. Land buyers assume connectivity from road to the land from higher and lower hierarchical roads etc. But the challenge is the land owner often forgets that entrance and exit to the land is irrespective of the ownership. For example if the land owned is surrounded by residential properties and parking lots, one needs to take approval for entrance and exit from the other land parcel to his one. Also the Government has limited the convergence and diverging of traffic directly to the main road, So it is irrespective of whether your owned estate directly faces the road. There is a construction of an alley which needs negotiation with the right to access the nearby parcels. So it is very important to establish an ingress and egress right between the adjacent landowners.
What are ingress and egress?
Ingress means the right to entrance whereas egress is the right to exit your owned estate. The right of purchasing property is different from ingress and egress rights. So if you are buying land it should not be a preconceived notion that there will be gravel roads which will give access to your land. Property buyers should be aware of the easement rights well in hand.
The right came as a savior for landlocked properties which makes the optimum use of all the land parcels, however the right only allows the user to use other owner’s property in a limited way with mutual consent. If the ingress and egress rights are not addressed by local authority, land-use agreement can also be used to create easement. The certificate is between the adjacent land and only to some restricted use and cannot be misshapen with expansion in construction or so. The rights solely depend upon the dominant owner and servient owner
For some instance the ingress and egress will only allow foot traffic and may restrict heavy vehicles.
What is a landlocked parcel?
Landlocked typically happens when internal division of one land is done. The parcel that does not touch any road or could not seek direct access from any connecting wing is called landlocked property. If the easement certificate is not issued, the owner won;t be able to ingress or egress without negotiating the right to cross over any parcel. The other common practice is taking charges based on the number of trips generated with special conditions like speed, noise etc but that depends upon the neighboring owners. The buyers always want to be sure about all the governing parameters and neither rely on word of mouth por any temporary adjustment.
For availing the rights, the owner can apply to the High Court under the property law act 1952 for an order giving the land an access right over a neighbor's property. The application must be made to the High Court. Immediately after filing your application, you must serve a copy of it to the local authority for your area. The owner of each piece of land adjoining your land is a defendant to your application. Any person with an interest in the land or in any land that may be affected by an order has a right to be heard by the court in relation to your application.
If the court decides to grant you an access right, it may do this in one of two ways:
- By granting right of way (an "easement") over a neighbor's land
By vesting in you the appropriate proportion of the ownership ("legal estate in fee simple") of a neighbor's land
How to obtain an ingress and egress rights?
Inclusive property deed
There are some identified properties which already have an ingress and egress certificate, so the buyer automatically gets the benefit of purchasing such lands.
Way of an easement
According to Section 4 of The Indian Easements Act, 1882, an easement is a legal right granted to the owner or occupier of the land to use the neighboring land to access their property. In the absence of legal rights, the owner can refer to the public record and can get information and ideas about the possible opportunities. The dominant owner must execute a quitclaim deed with the servient owner. A quitclaim deed is a legal instrument used to transfer ownership interest of the real estate.
Use of Land-use agreement
Land use is a more detailed way of establishing an agreement between the owners. It has information regarding the use of land, specific uses, weight of vehicles and possible charges related to the use.
Ingress and Egress bottom line
Concludingly, access to the property plays a vital role and can also change the decision of a potential buyer and thus ingress and egress rights hold a lot of importance. Whenever a land is sold or buyed it should be made sure that both the dealing parties are aware of the easement right and should come on common ground before locking any deal.