A parcel has no legal access to a public road. What is the principal effect on its value?
Correct Answer
C) Value falls sharply until access is secured
Why this is correct: Legal access to a public road is a fundamental requirement for most uses (the 'right of ingress and egress'). Without it, utility and marketability are severely impaired, causing a significant value diminution. Why the other choices are wrong: 'Value rises' is illogical; lack of access is a severe detriment. 'Value is unaffected' ignores the legal and practical barrier. 'Value is set by adjoining parcel's price' is not a rule; the landlocked parcel's value is typically much lower. Exam tip: No legal access = severely impaired utility = low value.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Without legal access the parcel cannot be developed, financed or readily insured, so value falls sharply until access is secured by easement, legal action or dedication.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: Value rises because of the added privacy
Inaccessibility is not privacy. A parcel that cannot be reached cannot be used, which no amenity offsets.
Option B: Value is unaffected until development begins
Value reflects what a buyer could do, so the impairment exists immediately whether or not development is planned.
Option D: Value is set by the adjoining parcel's price
The adjoining parcel's price does not measure the landlocked parcel's value, though the adjoining owner is often its most likely buyer.
No Access, No Use
No Access, No Use. Cannot build, cannot finance, cannot insure — cannot sell to anyone but the neighbour.
How to use: Ask what it would cost and how long it would take to obtain access. That is the measure of the impairment.
Exam Tip
The likely buyer is the adjoining owner, so consider assemblage value alongside the impairment in the analysis.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Deferring the impairment until development is proposed
- -Treating the adjoining parcel's price as the measure
- -Ignoring the cost and uncertainty of obtaining access
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
Legal access is a precondition to nearly every use a parcel might have. Without it the land cannot be developed, cannot be financed, and generally cannot be insured for title, so the pool of buyers collapses to adjoining owners and speculators willing to litigate. Value falls sharply and stays there until access is secured — typically by negotiating an easement from a neighbour, by establishing an easement by necessity through legal action, or through a municipal dedication. Each route has cost and uncertainty, and both belong in the analysis. The distractors are worth naming. Privacy does not compensate for unusability. The absence of current development plans does not remove the impairment, since value reflects what a buyer could do. And the adjoining parcel's price is not a substitute measure — indeed the landlocked parcel's most likely buyer is that adjoining owner, purchasing at a discount known as assemblage or plottage value from the buyer's side.
Background Knowledge
Legal access is a precondition to development, financing and title insurance. A landlocked parcel is severely impaired until access is obtained through an easement, an easement by necessity, or a dedication.
Real-World Application
An appraiser valuing a landlocked parcel estimates the cost and probability of obtaining an easement, and reports a value well below comparable accessible sites.
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