The City of London can trace its origins back 1000s of years, and part of that unique history are a series of Charter Streets.
What are they?
Charter Streets (the Streets) are a network of streets, alleys and passages within the City of London that existed prior to 1667. For many years there was a long-standing dispute between the City of London Corporation (the Corporation) and the Crown Estate (the Crown), as to the ownership of these Streets. This dispute ended in 2009, when the Crown sold its interest in the Streets to the Corporation.
Development concerns to consider
But what does this mean for anyone seeking to develop in the City of London?
If any owner of land adjacent to a Street would like to carry out development that will encroach on the Street (at ground, airspace or subsoil level), they will need to negotiate with the Corporation to acquire an interest in that area. The interest which is acquired will depend on the nature of encroachment but may be a lease or transfer (if for example the building footprint encroaches on the Street) or a licence or easement (if for example a cleaning cradle over sails the Street).
Where an existing development encroaches on to a Street and the necessary interest has not been acquired, it may be possible to retrospectively approach the Corporation, consider indemnity insurance, apply for adverse possession (if applicable). Alternatively, owners may wish to 'let sleeping dogs lie'.
As ownership of the Streets lies with the Corporation, the Streets are not subject to ad medium filum – a legal rebuttable presumption that the boundary of a disputed highway extends to the medium line of the road. Where the ad medium filum rules apply, owners of land on each side of the highway may effectively each own half of the highway unless evidence is provided to the contrary.
How to identify them
There is no comprehensive list of the Streets, but the Crown lodged cautions against first registration against each Street which, following the 2009 sale were transferred to the Corporation.
A caution against first registration means that if any party tries to register title to this Street (or part of it) the cautioner gets notified. A cautionary title register is produced by the Land Registry, and this will identify the Street as a Charter Street. This cautionary title number will also be flagged on an Index Map Search and so can be identified when undertaking due diligence.
Care must be taken to examine the extent of the title held by the Corporation, as the Streets may have evolved overtime, resulting in only slivers of the street as it stands today being considered a Charter Street. It may also be established that a street with a registered caution against first registration was not a part of the original street that was deemed a Charter Street.
