Legal Definitions - tenement

In modern property law, a tenement most commonly refers to a piece of land or property that is involved in an easement. An easement is a legal right that allows someone to use another person's land for a specific, limited purpose. When an easement exists, one property benefits from this right, while another property is burdened by it.

Specifically:

• The dominant tenement is the property that holds the right to use another's land. It benefits from the easement.
• The servient tenement is the property that is subject to the easement, meaning its owner must allow the owner of the dominant tenement to use their land for the specified purpose, or refrain from certain actions on their land. It serves the easement.

While less common in contemporary legal usage, the term tenement can also broadly refer to any land or permanent structures held by an owner, encompassing not just ownership but also associated rights like the ability to lease the property.

Here are some examples illustrating the use of "tenement" in the context of easements:

• Shared Driveway Access: Imagine two neighboring properties, Property A and Property B. Property A's only practical access to the main road requires crossing a small corner of Property B's land. To formalize this, a right-of-way easement is established. In this scenario, Property A is the dominant tenement because it benefits from the right to use a portion of Property B for access. Property B is the servient tenement because it is burdened by allowing Property A's owner to cross its land.

• Utility Line Installation: A new residential development needs to connect its sewer system to the municipal main, which requires running pipes underground across a section of an adjacent, undeveloped private parcel. A utility easement is granted for this purpose. The new residential development (or the individual lots within it) collectively acts as the dominant tenement, benefiting from the right to install and maintain utility lines across the neighboring land. The undeveloped private parcel is the servient tenement, as it must accommodate the utility lines and allow access for maintenance.

• Solar Access Rights: A homeowner installs solar panels on their roof and wants to ensure that a future building on an adjacent vacant lot won't block their sunlight. They negotiate a solar access easement with the owner of the vacant lot, which restricts the height of any future construction on that lot. The homeowner's property with the solar panels is the dominant tenement, benefiting from the guaranteed access to sunlight. The vacant lot is the servient tenement, as its development is restricted to ensure the dominant tenement's solar access.