The private right to light is an arcane area of law and which many developers would agree is long overdue for reform. Development schemes can be thwarted by private landowners even after the proposal has passed through the planning system and been found acceptable.

The basis of the rights are founded on the historic need for natural light to undertake basic craft tasks and bear little relationship to todays modern screen-based activities nor even the availability of electric lighting.

Rights of light have become an opportunistic tool for extracting value from development by others, or preserving value that might be adversely affected by neighbouring development schemes...