The Villa Aseana Dilemma

You buy a house costing a million in upmarket Mount Kiara - hell of expensive, but you believe it's worth it as it's a good investment.

Suddenly, at the back of your house, the neighbour developer built a 10 meter high wall which blocks your rights to have good airflow and lights. Worse off, the wall develops crack and wet soil seeps out of the cracks.

Now, you are at risk that soon, you will be asked to move out of your house due to the high risk of collapse. Nobody wants to buy your house and you have hundreds of thousands in mortgage loan to settle with your bankers.

Read this story:

House owners in Villa Aseana, a new housing project in Mount Kiara are angry that a 10m high wall has been built behind their new houses.

The developer of the land next door, Merge Power S/B erected the wall so that it could fill up the land’s sloping terrain with earth for its building project.

The wall however has showed signs of cracks and soils from the other side are leaking through the cracks. The residents had written to city hall and City Hall had issued an order to the developer to tear down the wall. The approved plan only allowed a 1m high wall. City Hall said they had given the developer one month’s notice to take down the wall or sent in the amended drawings for approval. City Hall said they will continue to monitor the developer and ensure that they abide by the plan.

What will you do if you are the dominant owner? What is your rights against the servient owner?


Let's look at a few English cases:


Allen v Greenwood [1979]Court of Appeal: This case illustrate the important decision in respect of the easement of light. It makes clear that the amount of light which can be acquired as an easement is to be measured according to the nature of the building in question and the purpose for which it is normally used.

Colls v Home & Colonial Stores Ltd [1904] House of Lords: The amount of light which can be acquired as an easement is such amount as was required according to the ordinary notions of mankind for the beneficial use of premises.

Carr-Saunders v Dick McNeil Associates Ltd [1986] QB: In the case of business premises the right to light is sufficient light for the use of the premises for its ordinary uses. The case states that the question is not how much light has been taken but how much is left. The extent of the dominant owner's right is neither increased nor diminished by the actual use to which the dominant owner has chosen to put his premise or any rooms in them; for he is entitled to such access of light as will leave the premise adequately lit for all ordinary purposes for which they may reasonably be expected to be used. It will include all other potential uses to which the dominant owner may reasonably be expected to put the premises in the future.

In essence, the rights capable of being easements are:

#A right to receive light through defined aperture in a building;

#A right to the passage of air through a defined channel;

#A right to have a building supported by the wall of another building;

#A right to require the servient owner to fence his land;

#A right to park a vehicle in a defined area but must not leave the servient owner without any reasonable use of his land;

#A right to the passage of piped water across another person's land;

#A right to a view:

#A right to privacy;

#A right to general flow of air over land.

The fundamental rule of law is that user of the rights must not use force in order to enjoy the claimed right, nor must user take place under protest from the servient owner (Nec vi). User who enjoyed by permission cannot be as of right (Nec precario).

Read more: Click Project Report