Grigsby v Melville [1974] 1 WLR 80 Court of Appeal

The claimant owned a semi-detached house. The house had originally been part of a larger detached house with single ownership which had then been divided in two. The claimant purchased half the property and the defendant purchased the other half. The house had a cellar. The entrance to the cellar was on the defendant’s property and the cellar ran under the claimant’s property. The defendant had been using the cellar. The claimant sought an injunction to prevent him from using it.

Held:

The cellar belonged to the claimant.

Stamp LJ: ‘It is, however, axiomatic that a conveyance of land carries with it all that is beneath the surface’

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