Right to light: Heaney update — injunction damages

Abstract

The 2010 Heaney case left developers uncertain as to how future claims for interference with light would be dealt with — but what has happened since then? The fallout over Heaney led to the Law Commission’s draft bill outlining a number of recommendations that would increase certainty, but this is yet to reach the statute books. Since 2010 there have been a number of cases which give an indication of the direction of travel regarding remedies for rights to light infringements, including Coventry v. Lawrence [2015], Scott v. Aimiuwu [2015] and Ottercroft Ltd v. Scandia Care Ltd [2016]. Today, there is still a large measure of uncertainty, but the rapid development in rights to light insurance products at least ensures that this uncertainty can be covered by an insurance policy in virtually all cases.