Rights of Light Case Study
The Development
A commercial development with an estimated developed value of £350-400 million.
The problem
The site is currently bare land with the benefit of planning permission for a large commercial development. A light survey carried out by a specialist surveyor has revealed that the development will infringe the rights of light enjoyed by a number of commercial and residential properties in the vicinity of the site to a point where the most likely remedy to these infringements will be an injunction.
The planning history of the site stretches back over many years and there is evidence of material objections to each of the relevant planning applications from the persons most likely to be affected by the development.
The developer is proposing to amend the scheme, which has the benefit of the most recent planning permission, and design something completely new. The First Title policy has therefore been taken on a pre-planning basis.
The underwriting
By looking beyond the legal implications of insuring such a risk we have established that the site is in an area where the affected owners are less likely to pursue legal action either because of the cost and time implications or because they own commercial premises and may therefore be more willing to accept compensation for their loss of light.
We have worked closely with the light surveyor to develop an understanding of how they assess the compensation amounts set out in their report and through the combination of a deductible and an appropriate premium we have managed to mitigate some of the risk.
By providing cover on a pre-planning basis we have enabled exchange of contracts to take place and the developer to keep to their development timetable.