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An easement is the right for a property to use the property of someone else for a specific purpose, for example a road or well.
How does an easement work?
An easement is bound to a specific property, not to a specific individual. Therefore, the easement is valid regardless of who the owner of the property is. An easement is as a rule valid henceforth and has no termination date.
There are two types of easement
There are two types of easements, contractual easements, and legal easements. A contractual easement is formed through an agreement between the property owners, a legal easement is formed through a decision from a government agency. At Lantmäteriet it is done through a cadastral procedure.
Contractual easement
A contractual easement is written between two property owners where one property is given the right to use something on the other property, for example a road or a well. The easement is valid until the one who has the right applies to have it removed.
A contractual easement is a so-called formal contract. This means that the contract must contain certain details to be valid as an easement. Which these requirements are is stated in Section 14 of the Swedish land code.
Contractual easement can be registered in the Land register. That way we can ascertain that the new owner of the servient property sees that there is an easement that encumbers the property. Registration is made through a written application to Land registration at Lantmäteriet.
Here you can find expedition fees for registration of easements and usufructs.
Legal easements
A legal easement is formed, changed, or revoked through a cadastral procedure, in a so-called reallotment. A legal easement can only be granted if it is of “essential importance” to the beneficiary property.
A decision to grant a legal easement is normally based on an agreement between the property owners. In certain cases, it can be granted even though the parties do not agree. Such an easement requires that certain other conditions are fulfilled.
Legal easements are visible in the Land register both in written form and on maps. The Land register is incomplete regarding legal easements formed before 1972.
For information on joint property units see the page Communities.
Which easements affect my property?
In the e-service Min Fastighet (My Property) you can find out if there are any easements that affect your property.