Cases - Bryant v Lefever

Record details

Name
Bryant v Lefever
Date
(1879)
Citation
4 CPD 172
Legislation
Keywords
Easements - Prescription Act 1832, s. 2
Summary

The plaintiff and the defendant occupied adjoining premises. The plaintiff complained that, in rebuilding his house, the defendant had carried it up beyond its former height, checking the access of the draught of air to the plaintiff's chimneys. The Court of Appeal held that the right upon which the plaintiff relied did not exist at law and that no man could dictate to his neighbour how he should build his house with respect to the general current of air common to all mankind.

A right to receive air can however be acquired by prescription (at common law or pursuant to section 2 of the Prescription Act 1832) where the air is received onto the dominant tenement through a defined channel on the adjoining land, or is received through a defined aperture in the dominant tenement.