Cases - Bullers v Dickinson
Record details
- Name
- Bullers v Dickinson
- Date
- (1885)
- Citation
- 29 Ch D 155
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Rights of light
- Summary
-
The frontage of the plaintiff's house originally protruded at an angle into the street (protruding 4 ft at the west and 7 ft 9 in. at the east). The ground floor room was used as a shop and the ground floor front consisted mainly of a shop window. The shop was pulled down in order to allow the widening of the street. A much smaller property was built that did not protrude on to the street. The window in the new property was of a similar size to the old window, but was no longer at an angle to the street and was built 4 ft further back at the west end and 7 ft 9 in. further back at the east end than the original wall. The defendant then constructed a building on the other side of the street and the plaintiff claimed that the defendant's building had interfered with its right to light.
The defendant argued that, because the new building was so different from the old and the new room so small, the right of light had been abandoned or lost. However, the judge held that the defendant had failed to prove any intention to abandon the right of light.