Road Reserve Encroachment in Jamaica: When Fences and Structures Are Built on Public Land

• Road reserves are public land set aside for roads and cannot be privately owned or enclosed.
• Building on a road reserve without a licence or encroachment permit is illegal.
• Parish councils and the NWA have authority to order removal of encroaching structures.
• Buyers can unknowingly purchase land where a road reserve runs through the registered parcel.
• Survey plans should be checked against road reservation records before any development.

In Jamaica, road reserves are strips of Crown-owned land that have been designated for road purposes under the relevant public roads legislation. They include not only the current paved road surface but the full width of land reserved, which may be significantly wider than the existing road. This reserved width is intended to allow for future road widening, maintenance, and associated infrastructure. Because road reserves are owned by the Crown, no private individual or company has the right to build on them, fence them in, or treat them as private property without the specific authorisation of the relevant authority.

Road reserve encroachment is common in both urban and rural Jamaica. In some cases, property owners build walls or fences that they believe are on their private land but which, in fact, extend onto the road reserve. In other cases, owners are aware of the reserve and make a deliberate decision to build on it, hoping that the authorities will not enforce. When the National Works Agency (NWA) or a parish council needs to widen the road, carry out maintenance, or install infrastructure, structures in the road reserve must be removed. The cost of removal falls on the person who erected them, not on the authority.

Checking for Road Reserves Before Development

Before building any structure adjacent to a public road in Jamaica, the developer or property owner should verify the road reservation width with the NWA or the relevant parish council. This check should be incorporated into the building permit application process. Survey plans for the parcel should be reviewed to identify any road reservation that may affect developable area. The NWA, which is responsible for the primary road network in Jamaica, publishes information on its mandate and road classifications at nwa.gov.jm. Parish councils are responsible for secondary roads within their jurisdiction and can advise on road reserve widths.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomes Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com