Right of Way in the Land Register: Registration, Obligations, Value

Anyone buying or selling a property in Fürth that is set back from the street or is accessible only via a neighboring property will sooner or later encounter the issue of right of way. In the land register for the encumbered property, it is listed in Section II and applies to all future owners. Understanding the basis for the registration, the obligations of the parties involved, and the impact on property value can help avoid bad purchases and costly disputes.

Legal Background: Right of Way as a Real Encumbrance

The right of way is a form of easement under the German Civil Code (BGB). There are two legal forms that regularly appear in the practice of the Fürth Land Registry Office:

The real servitude under Sections 1018 et seq. of the German Civil Code (BGB) is established in favor of a dominant property. It is property-specific and transfers with ownership: whoever purchases the dominant property automatically acquires the right of way. Whoever purchases the servient property automatically assumes the encumbrance. This makes the easement the preferred form for securing permanent access.

The limited personal easement under Sections 1090 et seq. of the BGB entitles a specific person to use the property. It is non-transferable and expires upon the death of the entitled person or after an agreed period. It is suitable for time-limited or person-specific rights of use, but not for permanent access.

Both easements are created pursuant to § 873 BGB by agreement (in practice, notarized) and entry in the land register. The Bavarian Justice Portal lists the Fürth Land Registry Office as part of the Fürth Local Court. This office is responsible for properties in Fürth and the surrounding municipalities of the Fürth district. The notary district of Middle Franconia encompasses both the cities of Nuremberg and Fürth.

The scope of the right of way must be precisely defined in the establishment agreement. An imprecise description-such as “access to the property permitted” without specifying width, route, and type of use-regularly leads to disputes. Time-tested wording includes the exact route with a site plan (essential for land registry entry), the permitted type of use (pedestrian traffic, bicycle traffic, vehicle traffic up to a certain weight), the hours of use (limited to daytime hours if applicable), and the provisions for path maintenance (who bears the costs for repairs, snow removal, and lighting).

Procedures and Deadlines: From Agreement to Land Registry Entry

The process from the outcome of negotiations to the registered right of way involves several steps. First, the parties agree on the terms of the right of way. This agreement should include the exact route of the path (site plan or sketch of the area), the type of use (pedestrian path, vehicle path, width), any hours of use, and any fee agreements.

The notary certifies the agreement and submits the application for registration to the land registry office. In Fürth, processing times at the land registry office vary depending on the workload-waiting times of four to eight weeks are realistic for 2025/2026.

Transaction value (annual value × 20)	Basic notary fee (GNotKG Table B)	Land Registry Fee (approx.)	Total (approx.)
€5,000	€75	€75	€150
€10,000	€75	€75	€150
€20,000	€115	€115	€230
€50,000	€165	€165	€330
€100,000	€273	€273	€546

Source: WEG Act (as of the 2020 WEG reform + 2026 amendments), BGB, GNotKG table, Bavarian Justice Portal, Nuremberg/Fürth/Erlangen Land Registry, as of Q1/Q2 2026.

Once registered, the right of way is effective against every owner of the servient estate, including any future purchaser (Section 1020 BGB). The principle of succession in encumbrances in rem is a cornerstone of the German land registry system.

For easements, the transaction value for notary fees is calculated as 18 to 20 times the annual value of the encumbrance. The annual value is defined as the economic benefit to the beneficiary, not the loss to the encumbered party. In the case of a right of way for a vehicle for a semi-detached house in Fürth-Ronhof, the annual value is often the rental value advantage resulting from secured access, approximately €300-600 per year, which yields a transaction value of €6,000-12,000 and notary fees of less than €200.

Practice: Right of Way and Usage Conflicts in Fürth

In the practice of the Fürth real estate market, right-of-way conflicts frequently arise in older neighborhoods where historical access situations were never formally recorded in the land registry. Many properties in Fürth’s Südstadt or Old Town have been accessed de facto via neighboring properties for decades without a formal right of way. When such a property is sold, unpleasant surprises can arise: The new owner of the neighboring property may refuse to allow the customary use.

The solution is to reach an agreement and register a right of way well in advance of the sale. This protects the buyer and increases the marketability of the benefiting property, as guaranteed access is a key selling point.

For existing registered rights of way, the issue of maintenance and cost allocation is important. Section 1020 of the German Civil Code (BGB) obligates the beneficiary to exercise the right in a manner that takes the interests of the owner of the servient property into considerate account. Repairs to the path may be the subject of agreements in the grant agreement; in the absence of such a provision, the beneficiary bears the maintenance costs for the portion they use.

> For a current assessment of how a right of way affects the market value of your property in Fürth, use the valuation tool from leadmarkt.ch - it takes encumbrances and restrictions into account in the valuation calculation.

In the event of disputes regarding the exercise of an existing right of way-for example, if the owner of the servient estate blocks access or the holder of the right of way claims use of the path beyond the agreed-upon scope-the Fürth Local Court has jurisdiction as the court of first instance for real estate matters. Interim legal protection through a cease-and-desist order may be sought in summary proceedings before the Local Court. In practice, it is recommended to first attempt to resolve right-of-way conflicts through mediation, as litigation costs can be economically disadvantageous for cases involving small amounts in dispute.

Local Nuance: Fürth Land Registry and Historical Development Patterns

As a city that has grown historically, Fürth has a large number of properties in densely built-up areas, some of which date back to the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Wilhelminian-style development in parts of the Südstadt and the small-scale parceling in the area around Friedrichstraße regularly lead to access issues that must be resolved through rights of way.

The Fürth Land Registry Office, as part of the Fürth Local Court, maintains the land registers for all properties in the city of Fürth and the district of Fürth (with the exception of municipalities assigned to the Zirndorf Land Registry Office). Notaries in the Middle Franconia notarial district are authorized to authenticate the establishment of rights of way and to file the applications for registration.

A distinctive feature in the Franconian region: Some older land registers still contain handwritten entries from the 19th century that refer to historical right-of-way arrangements. These historical entries often stem from Prussian or Bavarian law prior to the introduction of the German Civil Code (BGB) in 1900 and are interpreted according to the principles of the old law. The interpretation of such historical entries may be disputed; in cases of doubt, the Regional Court of Nuremberg-Fürth serves as the appellate court for land registry disputes in the region.

In the vicinity of Fürth City Park and in the villa-like neighborhoods in the western part of the city, there are properties that rely on rights of way due to their historical development structure. Prospective buyers of such properties should obtain the land register extract as well as a current extract from the register of easements (Fürth City Administration, Building Rights Office) prior to the notary appointment. The register of easements supplements the land register with usage restrictions and development rights secured under public law that do not appear in the land register itself.

Cancellation and Impact on Value at Sale

According to Section 875 of the German Civil Code (BGB), the cancellation of a right of way requires a formal declaration of waiver by the entitled party-a notarized deed on the basis of which the land registry office enters the cancellation. The owner of the servient property has no unilateral right to cancellation as long as the right remains in effect.

Value reduction due to right of way: Appraisers from the Fürth Appraisal Committee typically apply a value reduction of 3 to 15 percent to the market value of the servient property in cases of registered rights of way. The exact discount depends on the location and route of the path (along the edge or through the middle of the usable area), the intensity of use (rarely used footpath vs. daily vehicle access), the impact on buildability or garden use, and whether the path is fenced off or otherwise separated from the main area.

For the benefited property, the right of way increases its value if it secures the only access route. Without this right, the property might not be buildable or would be difficult to sell-in this case, the value contribution of the right of way can be significant and account for 10 to 30 percent of the property’s value.

Conclusion for Owners in Fürth

A right of way is one of the most common encumbrances in land registries in the Nuremberg metropolitan region. For property owners in Fürth, the following applies: Before any purchase or sale, it is worth carefully reviewing the land registry extract, Section II, for existing easements. In cases where actual right-of-way usage is not legally secured, it is advisable to establish and register a formal right of way at an early stage.

The valuation tool from leadmarkt.ch provides you with an initial estimate of the market value of your property in Fürth-taking into account registered encumbrances and the current market conditions in the Fürth housing market.

Right of Way and Restrictions on Use: What Should Be Contractually Regulated

When concluding a right-of-way agreement-even before land registry entry-the parties should specify several important details that could later lead to disputes:

Scope of Use: Does the right of way apply only to pedestrians, or also to motor vehicles? Is there a frequency limit (e.g., no more than 10 vehicles per day)? Without a precise definition, the court will decide in the event of a dispute-and it may rule differently than the owner of the encumbered property expects.

Maintenance of the path: Who is obligated to keep the path in a usable condition? Who pays for the gravel layer, paving, or asphalt? Who is liable for repairs after frost or heavy rainfall?

Winter maintenance: Must the encumbered property owner clear and grit the path? Or is that the responsibility of the right holder? In Fürth, where winter sidewalk cleaning obligations exist under municipal regulations, this question is practically relevant.

Exclusion of Transferability: A right of way is fundamentally tied to the property with the right of way (§ 1028 BGB). It cannot be transferred in isolation. However, clear wording can limit the intensity of use even if there is a change in ownership of the property with the right of way.

A clear contractual provision addressing these points in the deed of assignment prevents disputes-and thus saves costs before the Fürth Local Court.

---

Prepared by the my-home.de editorial team in collaboration with regional real estate analysts. Data as of: Q1/Q2 2026.