Read also: EASEMENT OF RIGHT OF WAY
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The legal easement called easement of light and view refers to an easement whereby the dominant estate enjoys the right to have free access to light, a little air, and a view overlooking the adjoining estate,e., the servient estate.
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Easement of light is the right to make openings under certain conditions in order to receive light from another’s tenement while the easement of view is the right to make openings or windows, to enjoy the view through the estate of another and the power to prevent all constructions or works which would obstruct such view or make the same difficult.
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The easement of light and view in the case of windows opened in one’s own wall is negative easement. As such, it cannot be acquired by prescription except where sufficient time of possession has elapsed after the owner of the dominant estate, by a formal act, has prohibited the owner of the servient estate from doing something which would be lawful but for the easement.
A part-owner of a party wall may use it even without the consent of the other owners so long as he does not interfere in the common and respective uses by the other co-owners. No part-owner may, however, make an opening in a party wall without the consent of the other co-owners. If the same is done without the consent of the other co-owners, the latter may demand that what has been done be undone at the expense of the co-owner who made such opening. But if the same is done with the consent of the other co-owners, the 10-year period of prescription for the acquisition of an easement of light and view shall commence to run from the time of the making of such opening.
In the case of Sps. Garcia V. Santos (G.R. No. 228334, June 17, 2019) the Court explained that:
The legal easement called easement of light and view refers to an easement whereby the dominant estate enjoys the right to have free access to light, a little air, and a view overlooking the adjoining estate, i.e., the servient estate.
The easement of light and view has two components. The easement of light or jus luminum has the purpose of admitting light and a little air, as in the case of small windows, not more than 30 centimeters square, at the height of the ceiling joists or immediately under the ceiling. On the other hand, the easement of view or servidumbre prospectus has the principal purpose of affording view, as in the case of full or regular windows overlooking the adjoining estate.
Explained otherwise, the easement of light is the right to make openings under certain conditions in order to receive light from another’s tenement while the easement of view is the right to make openings or windows, to enjoy the view through the estate of another and the power to prevent all constructions or works which would obstruct such view or make the same difficult. The easement of view is broader than the easement of light because the latter is always included in the former.
As held by jurisprudence, the easement of light and view is intrinsically intertwined with the easement of the servient estate not to build higher or altius non tollendi. These two necessarily go together “because an easement of light and view requires that the owner of the servient estate shall not build to a height that will obstruct the window.”
Article 616 of the Civil Code states that easements may be classified into positive and negative easements. A positive easement is one which imposes upon the owner of the servient estate the obligation of allowing something to be done or of doing it himself. On the other hand, a negative easement is that which prohibits the owner of the servient estate from doing something which he could lawfully do if the easement did not exist.
According to Article 621 of the Civil Code, in order to acquire easements by prescription in positive easements, the prescriptive period shall commence from the day on which the owner of the dominant estate, or the person who may have made use of the easement, commenced to exercise it upon the servient estate.
With respect to negative easements, the prescriptive period shall commence from the day on which the owner of the dominant estate forbade, by an instrument acknowledged before a notary public, the owner of the servient estate, from executing an act which would be lawful without the easement.
An easement of light and view may either be positive or negative.
As a general rule, an easement of light and view is a positiveone if the window or opening is situated in a party wall, while it is a negative one if the window or opening is thru one’s own wall, i.e., thru a wall of the dominant estate.
In the case of Cortes v. Yu-Tibo (G.R. No. 911 March 12, 1903), the Court held that the easement of light and view in the case of windows opened in one’s own wall is negative. As such, it cannot be acquired by prescription except where sufficient time of possession has elapsed after the owner of the dominant estate, by a formal act, has prohibited the owner of the servient estate from doing something which would be lawful but for the easement.
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
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How about for glass brick windows existing for almost 18yrs in firewall? Can we invoke easement in light n view? The neighborr built a buildboard that enclosed my light and view.
Do i have any grounds to invike