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Last edited 13 Nov 2020

Profit a prendre

A 'profit a prendre' (or profit à prendre) is a right to take something from another person’s land. This could be part of the land itself, such as peat; something growing on it, such as timber or grass (which can be taken by the grazing of animals); or wildlife killed on it, for example by shooting or fishing.

The thing taken must be capable of ownership, so a right to use land in some way, or to take water from a natural feature, cannot be a profit. This distinguishes a profit a prendre from an easement, which is a non-possessory interest in land.

A profit a prendre may be appurtenant or in gross:

A profit a prendre appurtenant is a right, the benefit of which is attached to a particular piece of land, in the same way as an easement. It cannot be registered with its own title.
A profit a prendre in gross is a right not attached to the ownership of any particular piece of land. The owner of the profit may not own any land at all and may dispose of the profit independently from any land they do own. A profit a prendre in gross may be substantively registered with its own title. Alternatively, a profit a prendre in gross may be the subject of notice in the register of the affected land, without being registered with its own title or, if the affected land is not registered, the subject of a caution against first registration. A profit a prendre in gross may be created by express grant (or reservation), by statute, or by prescription at common law or under the doctrine of lost modern grant. Because different profits a prendre in gross may be granted over the same land to take different things, or to take the same thing at different times, there may be more than one profit a prendre in gross affecting the same land.