Commissioner for Railways v Valuer-General [1974] AC 328  Privy Council

Several appeals against a valuations given on properties for taxation purposes on the grounds that the valuations were too high as no account had been taken of the rights of land under the properties by the railway company and in some instances the rights above the land had been restricted to 20ft.

Held:

The appeal was allowed

Lord Wilberforce in relation to rights above and below the land:

“it was unlikely that such a sweeping, unscientific and unpractical doctrine as that 'land' meant the whole of the space from the centre of the earth to the heavens would appeal to the common law mind. “

Back to lecture outline on rights above and below the surface of land in land law