An easement is a recorded right for somebody other than the owner to use part of a property. It does not show up when you walk the yard, it does not come off when the house sells, and it is the reason a fair number of Richmond-area homeowners discover in year two that the pool they planned cannot go where they planned it.
None of that is unusual or alarming. Almost every suburban lot in Henrico or Chesterfield carries at least one. The problem is only ever discovering it late.
The kinds you will actually run into here
| Utility easement | A strip, often along a lot line or the street frontage, reserved for power, gas, water, sewer or communications. The utility can enter to maintain its equipment, and you generally cannot build over it. |
| Drainage or stormwater easement | Carries surface water across the lot, sometimes as a swale you would never identify as an easement. Common on newer subdivisions where stormwater is engineered lot by lot. |
| Access easement or right of way | Gives a neighbor, or a landlocked parcel behind you, the right to cross your land. Shared driveways in older neighborhoods and rural parcels in Goochland and Powhatan are where these turn up most. |
| Conservation easement | A voluntary, usually permanent restriction limiting development on land, held by a public body or land trust. Meaningful on acreage, and it runs with the land indefinitely. |
| Association easement | Rights held by a property owners’ association over parts of your lot, for maintenance, landscaping or access to common area. |
| Sight-distance and road easement | Near intersections and along state-maintained roads, reserved so that visibility and the roadway itself can be kept clear. |
Where they are written down
1. The recorded plat. The subdivision plat usually draws easements as dashed lines with a width labeled, for example a 10-foot utility easement along the rear line. This is the fastest way to see what affects the lot.
2. The deed and the chain of title. Easements are created and recorded in land records, and recordation is governed by Chapter 6 of Title 55.1 of the Code of Virginia. Recording is what makes them binding on later owners, which is exactly why they survive your purchase.
3. The title commitment, Schedule B. This is the one buyers skip. Schedule B lists the exceptions to your title insurance, and recorded easements sit there by name and recording reference. If you read one document on this subject, read Schedule B, and ask your settlement agent to explain any exception you do not understand.
4. A current survey. The plat shows what was platted. A survey shows where things actually are, including whether a shed, fence or driveway already sits inside an easement. Whether you need one is covered in do you need a survey when buying a home in Richmond VA.
County GIS mapping is a useful free starting point for a first look at parcel lines and recorded plats, and each locality publishes its own. It is a preliminary tool rather than a substitute for the title work, because the authoritative version is always the recorded document.
What an easement actually prevents
The practical answer is that you own the land but you cannot obstruct the right. In everyday terms that usually rules out:
- Permanent structures over the easement area: additions, garages, sheds on slabs, decks.
- A pool, which is the single most common collision, because pools want the flat open part of the back yard and so do utility and drainage easements. If a pool is the plan, check before you make an offer rather than after. We cover the wider question in Richmond homes with pools.
- Fences, sometimes. Many utilities tolerate a fence crossing an easement but reserve the right to remove it without replacing it, which is a different bargain from being told no.
- Regrading or filling that changes how water moves through a drainage easement.
- Tree planting or removal within the strip, depending on the terms.
What it does not do is stop you using the land for ordinary purposes. Lawn, garden beds, a swing set and a patio are usually fine. The distinction is between using the surface and obstructing the right.
The one worth extra attention. An access easement that lets someone else drive across your property is a different animal from a utility strip, because it involves people rather than equipment, and it is a recurring source of neighbor disputes. If a parcel behind or beside the one you are buying has no other road frontage, look specifically for how it gets out. Rural parcels in Goochland, Powhatan and western Hanover are where this comes up.
Under contract and want the easements read properly? We pull the plat and go through Schedule B with our buyers before the inspection deadline, when there is still time to act on what it says. See how we work with buyers, or start with the contact form.
Conservation easements and acreage
If you are buying land rather than a lot, conservation easements deserve their own look. These are voluntary restrictions that limit subdivision or development, typically held in perpetuity by a public body or a land trust, and they are recorded against the property. Virginia’s conservation programs are administered in part through the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The reason to care is that a conservation easement can be the single largest determinant of what a parcel is worth and what you can ever do with it, and it will not be obvious from a listing. Ask directly whether the parcel is under one, and if the answer is yes, read the instrument itself. Acreage inventory across the region is at Richmond homes with acreage, and the July market picture for the acreage counties is in Goochland and Powhatan, July 2026.
Roads, frontage and the state right of way
Along state-maintained roads the public right of way often extends further into what looks like your front lawn than owners assume, and it is kept clear for maintenance and visibility. Anything you install near the frontage, from a fence to a mailbox structure to landscaping, may sit within it. The Virginia Department of Transportation maintains the secondary road network across our counties, and permits are required for work within its right of way.
This also intersects with what may be built nearby. If a road widening or a new subdivision entrance is planned, the right of way is where it happens. That is the same analysis as in buying a home next to undeveloped land and what to ask a Richmond builder about the rest of the subdivision.
Questions we get about easements
Can I remove an easement from my property?
Rarely, and not unilaterally. An easement is a property right held by someone else, so releasing it generally requires the holder’s agreement, recorded in the land records. Some easements expire by their own terms or can be relocated by agreement, but the default expectation should be that it stays.
Does an easement lower my property value?
A routine utility strip along a rear or side line usually has little effect, because nearly every comparable lot has one. An easement that constrains the buildable area, blocks the obvious pool or patio location, or lets a neighbor drive across the property can affect value and marketability, and should be priced rather than ignored.
Can I build a fence across a utility easement?
Often yes in practice, but usually at your own risk. The utility may retain the right to remove the fence for access and not to restore it. Ask the utility rather than the neighbor, and get the answer in writing before you spend the money.
Will the home inspection find easements?
No. A home inspection covers the physical condition of the structure and systems, not legal rights in the land. Easements are a title and survey matter. What an inspection does and does not include is set out in what a Richmond home inspector will not cover.
Does title insurance protect me against easements?
Generally not the ones disclosed to you. Recorded easements are typically listed as exceptions on Schedule B of the commitment, which means they are excluded from coverage. That is precisely why reading Schedule B before your contingency expires matters more than assuming the policy has it covered.
What if a neighbor has been crossing my land for years without a recorded easement?
That raises the possibility of a claimed right acquired through long use, which Virginia law recognizes in limited circumstances with specific requirements. It is fact-specific and genuinely a matter for a Virginia real estate attorney rather than a blog post. Do not resolve it by conversation with the neighbor alone.
Where can I see the easements on a property I am considering?
Start with the recorded subdivision plat and the county GIS parcel viewer for the locality, then get the title commitment and read Schedule B. If anything looks like it constrains what you intend to do with the yard, order a current survey with the easements plotted.
Do easements apply to new construction too?
Yes, and new subdivisions often carry more of them, because stormwater management and utilities are engineered lot by lot at the time of platting. Ask for the plat for your specific lot rather than the marketing site plan for the neighborhood.
This is general information about how easements usually work in Virginia, not legal advice, and easement questions turn heavily on the specific recorded language. For a particular property, boundary dispute or claimed right of way, consult a Virginia real estate attorney.
