What Do Ingress vs Egress Mean in Real Estate?

What are Ingress and Egress?

"Ingress" and "egress" refer to the ability to enter and exit a property, respectively, and both are important in the context of property rights and land use planning.

  1. Ingress: This is the right to enter a property. In real estate, ensuring proper ingress means providing a way for people to access the property legally and safely. This could be through a road, a driveway, a walkway, or any other legal access route.
  2. Egress: This refers to the right to exit a property. Egress is crucial for safety, particularly in emergency situations. It involves having clear, unobstructed paths to leave the property safely. This could include exits to a public road, emergency exits in a building, etc.

Obviously both ingress and egress are required to use a property. They are often discussed in the context of easements, where a property owner might grant another party the right of ingress and egress over their land, for example, to reach a landlocked property. Additionally, building codes and safety regulations often have specific requirements for egress to ensure the safety of occupants.