Macvere Land Rights
Easements and wayleaves: know the rights over your land.
Apparatus on your land is only half the question. The other half is the right that keeps it there. An easement is permanent and binds the land. A wayleave is a personal, terminable agreement - and that difference can be worth a great deal to a developer.
Macvere Land Rights advises developers, landowners and their agents on existing and new utility land rights - what exists, what it allows, what it blocks and what to do about it.
What we deliver
Existing Rights Reviews
We establish what rights actually exist over a site - registered easements, unregistered wayleaves, protected strips - and what each one permits. Records are often incomplete, and what operators believe they hold is not always what the documents say.
Wayleave Termination and Removal
Where apparatus is held on a terminable wayleave, notice can change the whole negotiation. We advise on notice periods, the removal and diversion cost positions, and the pitfalls, including agreements left in abeyance that appear terminated but are not. Termination is a strategy decision, and we set it in the context of the wider scheme.
New Easements and Substation Land Rights
Rights granted for new infrastructure should be as limited as adoption allows: the right area, the right access, no more. We shape what is granted, prepare the legal plans and manage the transaction to completion.
Landowner Negotiation Support
For landowners hosting apparatus, we advise on what operators can and cannot require, and support negotiation on terms and compensation.
Rights set in the context of the scheme
Whether to terminate a wayleave, divert a cable or design around it is one decision, not three. We set the recommendation in the context of the scheme's programme and budget, not just the legal position.
Utility diversionsFAQs
What is the difference between an easement and a wayleave?
An easement is a permanent right registered against the land and binding on successors. A wayleave is a contractual agreement, usually annual and terminable on notice. Which one applies determines whether apparatus can be required to move - and who pays.
Can I make a utility company move its apparatus?
Sometimes. It depends on the right they hold, the notice provisions and the statutory protections that apply. Where a wayleave is terminable, serving notice can shift the cost of removal or diversion. Every case needs the documents read first.
Should easements be checked before buying land?
Yes, and before the masterplan is drawn. An easement can sterilise part of a site even where no apparatus is visible. Rights reviews are part of our utility due diligence.
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Talk to Land Rights
Tell us about the connection scheme, the substation or the easement. We will tell you quickly what it will take.