Across Richmond, Twickenham, Kew, and Teddington, Georgian and Victorian housing fills most of Richmond upon Thames, with conservation areas protecting the older streets, Thames riverside character, and active town centre regeneration around Twickenham. Almost all the older stock carries windows that have received natural light for well over the 20 years required to acquire the easement under the Prescription Act 1832, which means town centre redevelopment, mid-rise residential schemes, and rooftop conversions all routinely raise rights of light questions. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames planning consent does not address that legal position.
We act on Richmond upon Thames schemes from the London head office, with reach across Richmond, Twickenham, Kew, and Teddington, supported by colleagues in Essex and Hampshire. CHP is RICS regulated and has been advising on rights of light since 2004. The London team handles this work with specialist focus, and where the work overlaps with the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 we run party wall services from the same team.
The surveyor's first job on a Richmond upon Thames project is the initial appraisal, identifying which neighbouring windows are likely to carry an acquired right and where the proposed massing creates the most risk. Specialist rights of light software then models the existing and proposed light levels, with results tested against the Equivalent First Zone and the 50/50 rule to quantify any loss. Where modelling shows likely infringement, the cutback analysis works through design variations until the scheme sits within acceptable parameters.
For Richmond upon Thames schemes that often means conservation area infill, town centre redevelopment around Twickenham and Richmond, riverside housing schemes along the Thames, and rooftop conversions on Georgian and Victorian housing. Most projects also call for daylight and sunlight reports on the same planning submission, and we run both pieces of work from the same team. Calls go through to a qualified surveyor rather than a call centre.
In most cases, yes. The path forward is usually a negotiated settlement with the adjoining owner, paid in exchange for a release of their legal right to light against the new building. Damages are typically calculated by reference to the share of the development profit attributable to the part of the scheme causing the infringement, and the figure is significantly easier to predict when the rights of light position has been quantified at the design stage. Injunctions are rare where matters are handled properly and early.
Planning consent from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames does not resolve the rights of light position, so the legal track has to run alongside the planning track on every Richmond upon Thames scheme that sits close to existing windows. A free initial assessment is the fastest way to put a number on the risk.
