In property law, a right by which property owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment by another.
Servitudes allow people to create stable long-term arrangements for a wide variety of purposes, including shared land uses; maintaining the character of a residential neighbourhood, commercial development, or historic property; and financing infrastructure and common facilities. Modern European civil law is derived from Roman law , which divides real servitudes into rural (those owed by one estate to another) and urban (those established for convenience). Rural servitudes include various rights of way; urban servitudes include building rights in neighbouring properties, such as drainage and encroachment rights, and rights to light, support, and view. See also easement .