Document downloads - Rights of light surveying
Available downloads
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Rights of light form of release
The subject of rights to light concerns the assessment of whether a proposed obstruction (for example, an additional storey on a building) is likely to interfere materially with a neighbour's easement of light.
This is a template for a notice providing consent to the construction of a building in accordance with given conditions. -
Rights of light registration application
The subject of rights to light concerns the assessment of whether a proposed obstruction (for example, an additional storey on a building) is likely to interfere materially with a neighbour's easement of light.
A servient owner can prevent a dominant owner from acquiring a right to light to the dominant owner's windows over the servient owner's land by erecting an opaque structure in front of the dominant owner's windows. However, these can be difficult to erect and may require planning permission. A better alternative is often to create a notional obstruction by registering a light obstruction notice under section 2 (1) of the Rights of Light Act 1959. The light notice can be registered with the local authority as a local land charge for a period of one year.
This is a form for registering such a notional instruction. -
Surveyors acting as expert witnesses
Published April 2014
Effective from 2 July 2014
Reissued February 2023
Surveyors acting as expert witnesses, 4th edition, applies to surveyors when providing expert evidence, whether oral or written, before a range of courts and tribunals in the UK,
The practice statement sets out the mandatory duties of a surveyor in providing evidence, while the guidance note provides further information on good practice, including: the need for clear instructions and terms of engagement; fees; guidance on what to do in situations of conflict of interest; an outline of the written report format; clarification of the differences between the roles of expert witness and advocate; and the immunity of the expert witness.
A stand-alone electronic version of this practice statement (without the guidance note) is also available for potential use with clients in connection with the particular requirement of PS 3.3.
This document was amended in February 2023 to remove wording from PS10 and GN19 which could be read as prohibiting expert witnesses from taking instructions from solicitors who are engaged on a conditional fee, even if the expert is instructed on an unconditional fee basis. This was not the intention of RICS and has therefore been amended for clarity. -
Boundaries: procedures for boundary identification, demarcation and dispute resolution
Published February 2021
Effective from 1 May 2021
Reissued October 2022
Disputes about boundaries, and related neighbour disputes, are never far from the news and have been increasing steadily during the COVID-19 period in England and Wales. Boundary disputes can be costly, traumatic and time-consuming for all concerned; they can end up in expensive legal cases, leave a lingering mistrust and ill-feeling between neighbours, result in delayed development and additional costs, and cause confusion between professionals. They never fail to light up the letter pages of the tabloids, and the constituency postbags of MPs.
It is critical that RICS members, and other professionals working within this sector, are up to date with the latest best practice advice and guidance. This new 4th edition encompasses all that was best from the seminal 3rd edition, with a new emphasis on mediation, and has been reformatted and edited to include several new and expanded sections.
This document was reissued in October 2022 as a professional standard. It had previously been published in February 2021 as a guidance note. The regulatory requirements remain the same and no material changes have been made to the document. -
Rights of light
3rd edition
Published March 2024
Effective from 1 June 2024
2nd edition
Published March 2016
Effective from 1 July 2016 - 31 May 2024
Produced by a cross-professional group specialist panel of associate and chartered surveyors, this guidance deals with easements known as rights of light and outlines current best practice for surveyors in this field.
A right of light as an easement requires various factors to be in in order to create or trigger the formation of the legal right. Due to the legal nature of rights of light, practitioners often work closely with specialist legal advisers.
Members should avoid exceeding the extent of their competence in reporting on legal rather than technical issues. -
Right of light dispute checklist
Suggested checklist of documents relevant to a rights of light dispute, and where they can be obtained. Covers client's property, neighbour's property, and items that apply to both.
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The validity of daylight calculations in rights to light cases (RICS)
The aim of this research was to discover whether it would be possible to justify an alternative measure of daylight sufficiency that would satisfy the requirement of a court and also be capable of being used in negotiations of compensation.
By testing the validity of the original research, which has underpinned the current methods without question since 1923 and comparing this with alternative methods of measurement, a new standard was developed which more accurately represents the value of daylight in a room. Further research, experimentation and testing confirmed the levels of illuminance required for sufficiency. -
Daylighting and sunlighting
Published: October 2012
Effective from: October 2012
Reissued: October 2023
This professional standard is about daylight, sunlight and shading and, to a lesser extent, how it is dealt with in the design, planning, and environmental impact assessment of developments, and particularly in relation to the Building Research Establishment Report: Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight 2011, which sets out the standards and methods of calculation most usually relied upon by local authorities when assessing planning applications.
Surveyors advising on daylight and sunlight need to ensure that they are familiar with that document and with the planning policy of local authorities to whom reports are to be submitted.