What is the legal difference between a licence to use my neighbour's land and a registered easement?

A licence is simply permission — a personal arrangement letting you use part of your neighbour's land for some purpose, without creating an actual interest in the land itself. Because it's personal rather than proprietary, a licence can generally be revoked by the person who granted it, and it doesn't automatically bind a future buyer if either property changes hands; a new owner on either side isn't bound by an informal arrangement they had no part in and no notice of.

A registered easement is different in kind, not just in paperwork. It's a genuine property interest that runs with the land, meaning it automatically benefits and burdens successive owners of the relevant properties without needing to be re-granted, as long as it was validly created and is registered on title, giving future buyers clear notice of it.

The practical lesson is that an informal understanding with a neighbour, such as agreeing they can use your driveway, is a licence, not a right, and it can disappear the moment either property is sold or the arrangement is withdrawn. If an arrangement is meant to be permanent and to survive a future sale on either side, it needs to be documented and registered as a proper easement, not left as a handshake.