Learn how an easement affects the sale of a property, whether it passes to the buyer, and how it impacts the price and the owner's rights. A practical legal overview.
Are you buying a flat, a family house or land? Each of these types of property may be burdened by a different kind of easement. A thorough check of the title deed (list vlastníctva) will give you only basic information about the restrictions attached to the property and what may affect its use or value.
Basic data on real estate can be obtained through ZBGIS®, which is part of the geodesy, cartography and cadastre information system administered by the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the Slovak Republic. Easements attached to the property can then be verified in the title deed, specifically in section C ("Encumbrances"), where they are listed together with their scope and the legal ground on which they arose. When checking, however, two important exceptions must be borne in mind:
That is precisely why, when buying a property, it is important to verify not only the title deed but also other documents, and to stipulate contractually that no other third-party rights encumber the property.
A title deed may list various easements restricting the exercise of the ownership right. Most commonly these are a right of way on foot or by vehicle, a right of lifetime residence or use of the property, and easements connected with utility networks (for example electricity, gas, water or sewerage). For flats and non-residential premises, the title deed may also record easements relating to the common parts of the building, common facilities, accessories or the adjacent land, if such easements have been established.
In section "C" you may find, for example, entries such as:
Easements registered in section "C" of the title deed as a rule pass to the new owner together with the property.
Yes, an easement can be cancelled before the transfer of the property, but not unilaterally. If the property is to be transferred free of the easement, the easement must be legally cancelled, or must have been extinguished, at the time of the transfer (e.g. by agreement, by a court decision or by operation of law) and subsequently deleted from the Land Registry on the basis of the relevant document.
An easement as a rule has a negative effect on the market price of a property, because it constitutes a legal restriction of the ownership right and reduces the extent of the property's use. The degree of price reduction depends mainly on the type and scope of the easement. A right of way across land will manifest differently from, for example, lifetime residence in the property, which may significantly restrict or, in some cases, practically exclude full use of a flat or family house by its owner.
By contrast, easements connected with utility networks generally have only a minimal or negligible effect on the market price of a property, since these are common restrictions routinely accepted in practice, which may arise either on a contractual basis or by operation of law. The exception is where protective zones or the utility lines themselves actually restrict the construction or other use of the land, or reduce its attractiveness (for example in the case of overhead high-voltage lines or extensive protective zones).
The seller is obliged to duly inform the buyer that an easement encumbers the property and to provide them with all essential information about its content, scope and legal basis.
Apart from statutory easements, which arise directly from legislation and need not be registered in the Land Registry, attention must also be drawn to situations where an easement is not yet registered in the kataster even though a valid and effective contract on its creation already exists. In such a case, it is essential that the seller expressly inform the buyer of this fact and that this circumstance be addressed in the purchase contract. Otherwise, the buyer would acquire the property with an encumbrance they knew nothing about. This could result in the buyer being able to withdraw from the contract (if the contracting parties agreed on such an option) or to assert claims for defects or for damage caused.
The buyer cannot unilaterally cancel or delete an easement after buying the property. An easement is a right in rem attached to the property, and its extinction requires a legal title and the cooperation of the easement beneficiary or a decision of the competent authority.
An easement is a right of another person (the beneficiary), not of the owner of the property. The owner therefore cannot unilaterally interfere with another person's right. Its extinction requires:
Only once the extinction has been proven can an application for deletion from the Land Registry be filed.
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