How Rights of Light Apply to New Build Properties and Modern Developments

By RightsOfLight.org.uk · 13 September 2026

Most people associate rights of light with period terraces and Victorian townhouses. But what about new build properties? If you have recently bought a newly built home or flat, you might assume these older legal principles do not apply to you. That assumption could cost you.

Rights of light are not reserved for old buildings. They apply to any property with windows or other defined apertures that have received natural daylight for a continuous period of at least 20 years. Under the Prescription Act 1832, once light has passed through an aperture without interruption for that qualifying period, the owner of the building acquires a legal right to continue receiving that light. If you want to understand more about what a right of light is and how it is established, that is the foundation you need to grasp first.

So how does this affect new builds? In two important ways.

First, your new build property might itself be affected by existing rights of light held by neighbouring buildings. If the homes or offices next to your development have enjoyed light through their windows for 20 years or more, they may have acquired prescriptive rights. A developer who builds without properly addressing those rights exposes both itself and its buyers to risk. Courts can, in the right circumstances, order demolition or reduction of a building that infringes an established right of light. More commonly, substantial damages are awarded.

Second, if you own a new build property and a further development is later proposed nearby, you will not have acquired your own prescriptive right of light until your windows have received light for a continuous 20 years. This means you have limited protection during those early decades. You cannot bring a rights of light claim based on prescription if your building has only stood for five or ten years. That said, there may be other legal routes available to you, such as restrictive covenants or express easements granted as part of the original development. These are worth investigating if you are concerned about a neighbouring scheme blocking your light.

Developers of new build schemes are usually well aware of rights of light exposure. Many will commission specialist surveyor assessments and secure insurance policies before construction begins. Some use Light Obstruction Notices under the Rights of Light Act 1959 to prevent neighbouring owners from accruing the 20 years of uninterrupted light needed to establish a claim. If you live near a site where such a notice has been registered, you should understand your legal rights as a property owner and act quickly, because these notices create a notional obstruction that can defeat a future claim if left unchallenged.

There is another scenario that catches people off guard. Sometimes a developer will sell new homes that already have rights of light issues baked into them. A neighbouring owner may have notified the developer of a claim during construction, and the developer may have settled it with a payment rather than altering the design. The new buyer then inherits a property that was built with a known infringement, though the compensation has already been paid and the matter resolved. In other cases the matter may not be resolved at all, and the buyer inherits an ongoing dispute. Conveyancing solicitors should flag these issues, but they do not always do so thoroughly.

If you are buying a new build and want to understand how compensation is calculated in these situations, the key factor is the diminution in the value of the light lost to the affected neighbour. Courts and surveyors use established methods, including the Waldram diagram approach, to measure how much additional sky is blocked by a new building.

The practical takeaway is straightforward. New builds are not exempt from the law on rights of light. They are affected by it as neighbouring properties that may infringe existing rights, and they face a vulnerability gap in the years before their own prescriptive rights mature. If you are buying, selling, or developing new build property, it pays to get specialist advice early. You can request a free assessment to understand where you stand before problems escalate.

Reference: Prescription Act 1832, Section 3; Rights of Light Act 1959