The vendor had purported to rescind the contract and retain the deposit, while selling to another purchaser at a higher price. Held: The purchaser was entitled to return of the deposit, because the notice to complete had been ineffective. After referring to Schindler, Mervin Davies J said: ‘With those observations in mind, it seems that … Continue reading Cole v Rose: 1978
ICO The complainant has made a number of requests to the London Borough of Southwark (the Council) for information broadly relating to the serving of section 146 notices in accordance with the Law of Property Act 1925. The present notice concerns six of the requests. With regard to five of the requests (requests 1, 5 … Continue reading Southwark Council (Local Government (District Council)) FS50604878: ICO 9 May 2016
Covenents Attach to entire land not just parts Conveyances contained restrictive covenants but they were not expressly attached to the land. The issue was whether they were merely personal. Held: Section 78 made the covenant by the purchaser binding on his successors also. The section provides for statutory annexation of any covenant which touches and … Continue reading Federated Homes Ltd v Mill Lodge Properties Ltd: CA 29 Nov 1979
The plaintiff sought specific performance of what he said was a contract for the sale of land. Held: The appeal succeeded. In a case where a contract is alleged to have been made by an exchange of correspondence between the parties, in which the successive communications other than the first are in reply to one … Continue reading Gibson v Manchester City Council: HL 8 Mar 1979
The purchaser had failed to complete, notwithstanding the service of a notice to complete. The purchaser a Nigerian company suffered a delay in obtaining funds due to a change in the exchange control regulations. There was no attempt to exclude . .
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Land was laid out in individual lots and sold off in a standard form requiring that no building should be erected other than one private dwelling house and that plans should be submitted for approval. The defendants purchased one lot and wished to erect an additional house in contravention of the restriction. The plaintiffs owned … Continue reading Roake and others v Chadha and another: QBD 1984
The court was asked to pierce the veil of incorporation of a company in the course of ancillary relief proceedings in a divorce. H had failed to co-operate with the court. After a comprehensive review of all the authorities, Munby J said: ‘The common theme running through all the cases in which the court has … Continue reading Ben Hashem v Ali Shayif and Another: FD 22 Sep 2008
The claimant advanced funds to the respondent for him to invest in a bank of which the claimant had insider knowledge. In fact the defendant did not invest the funds, the knowledge was incorrect. The defendant however did not return the sums advanced, saying he need not return it because the contract was for an … Continue reading Patel v Mirza: SC 20 Jul 2016
The University wanted to sell land for development free of restrictive covenants. It had previously been in the ownership of both the servient and dominant land in respect of a restrictive covenant. The Borough contended that the restrictive covenants remained in effect. The University sought their discharge. Held: The Borough had owned the dominant and … Continue reading University of East London Higher Education Corporation v London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and others: ChD 9 Dec 2004
Judges: Deputy Master Bowles Citations: [2022] EWHC 1694 (Ch) Links: Bailii Statutes: Law of Property Act 1925 78 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Land Updated: 06 August 2022; Ref: scu.679569
The tenant had served a notice to review the rent. The tenent delivered a counter notice personally be posting it through the letter box. The lease provided that the notice was to be served at the last known business address of the landlord. The landlord had informed the tenant’s solicitor, but not the tenant direct … Continue reading Arundel Corporation v Khokher: CA 9 Dec 2003
The parties entered into three related contracts to grant long leases of three flats in the same block (Nos 37, 32 and 31), and deposits paid. The vendor served notices to complete and when the purchaser did not comply, he rescinded each agreement and forfeited the deposits. The purchaser sought repayment of the deposits under … Continue reading Tennaro Ltd v Majorarch: 2003
The respondent appealed against a finding that the provision which made a loan agreement completely invalid for lack of compliance with the 1974 Act was itself invalid under the Human Rights Act since it deprived the respondent lender of its property rights. It was also argued that it was not possible to make a declaration … Continue reading Wilson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (No 2): HL 10 Jul 2003
Limits to Police Exemption from Liability The claimant, an elderly lady was bowled over and injured when police were chasing a suspect through the streets. As they arrested him they fell over on top of her. She appealed against refusal of her claim in negligence. Held: Her appeal succeeded. It is normally only in a … Continue reading Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police: SC 8 Feb 2018
This appeal concerns the question whether an area of land in Bath known as the Recreation Ground, commonly called ‘the Rec’, is still subject to a restrictive covenant imposed in a conveyance of the Rec dated 6 April 1922 (‘the 1922 conveyance’). That turns on the question whether there is anyone who can now claim … Continue reading Bath Rugby Ltd v Greenwood and Others: CA 21 Dec 2021
A vendor/purchaser covenant was not to use the premises, ‘for any purpose other than those of or in connection with a private dwellinghouse.’ The parties requested the court to construe its meaning. The meaning had been considered before and settled although it was said that the words remained ambiguous. Held: There was a substantial advantage … Continue reading Crest Nicholson Residential (South) Ltd v McAllister: ChD 18 Nov 2002
Benefit of Covenant Ran with Land In 1938, landowners and the Catchment Board agreed that the Board would make good and maintain the banks of a stream, with the landowners contributing to the cost. The agreement was not said to be for the benefit of the landowner’s successors in title. In 1940, the first plaintiff … Continue reading Smith and Snipes Hall Farm Ltd v River Douglas Catchment Board: CA 1949
Section 79 of the Law of Property Act (relating to the burden of covenants) achieved no more than the introduction of statutory shorthand into the drafting of covenants. It does does not have the effect of causing covenants to run with the land Lord Upjohn and Lord Wilberforce [1967] 1 AC 50 Law of Property … Continue reading Tophams Ltd v Earl of Sefton: HL 1967
The parties disputed whether the defendants owned the benefit of a restrictive covenant. Held: The covenant did touch and concern the land, and the land with the benefit of covenant. The conditions under Federated Homes were met. The covenants were enforceable: ‘in the case of a post 1925 conveyance, once it is established that a … Continue reading Mohammadzadeh v Joseph and others: ChD 15 Feb 2006
The claimant sought a declaration that restrictive covenants imposed in 1896 affecting its land were no longer effective. Held: The declaration was granted. Under the 1881 Act (as opposed to the 1925 Act) covenants were not automatically attached to the land. Here there was no implied or explicit annexation of the covenants. The covenants were … Continue reading Seymour Road (Southampton) Ltd v Williams and Others: ChD 29 Jan 2010
Minor Irregularity in Break Notice Not Fatal Leases contained clauses allowing the tenant to break the lease by serving not less than six months notice to expire on the third anniversary of the commencement date of the term of the lease. The tenant gave notice to determine the leases on 12th January 1995, although the … Continue reading Mannai Investment Co Ltd v Eagle Star Assurance: HL 21 May 1997
The claimants sought a declaration that they had two rights of way over a neighbour’s land. One was claimed by continuous use for twenty years, and the second was said to have been implied under the 1925 Act. No express grant was suggested. Silber J [2006] EWHC 3109 (Ch), [2007] 3 All ER 543, [2008] … Continue reading Odey and Others v Barber: ChD 29 Nov 2006
A Local Authority is liable for any damage to adjacent property caused by the roots of a tree growing on the verge of a public highway. Held: Pre-adoption trees vest in the highway authority for all purposes. Stuart-Smith, Morritt L, Sir John Balcombe Times 26-Jun-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 1901, (1997) 96 LGR 27 Bailii Highways … Continue reading Hurst and Another v Hampshire County Council: CA 19 Jun 1997
A bankrupt husband, a mortgage broker, had applied for mortgage for his wife, fraudulently claiming that she had income. She appealed against an order for possession on the basis that he was agent of the bank, and that therefore the bank was fixed with notice of the fraud. She claimed that she had operated under … Continue reading Abbey National Plc v Tufts: CA 16 Feb 1999
A clause in a trust deed may validly excuse trustees from personal liability for even gross negligence. The trustee was exempted from liability for loss or damage ‘unless such loss or damage shall be caused by his own actual fraud’. Held: The trustee was under no liability in absence of any dishonest intention. Millett LJ … Continue reading Armitage v Nurse; etc: CA 19 Mar 1997
The plaintiff had applied for disclosure of assets under the Rules of the Supreme Court in support of a Mareva freezing order. The rules were held not to provide any such power: disclosure of assets could not be obtained as part of discovery as the documents concerned did not relate ‘to matters in question in … Continue reading A J Bekhor and Co Ltd v Bilton: CA 6 Feb 1981
Land was bought for development, but the purchaser later discovered a sewage pipe which very substantially limited its development potential. The existence of the pipe had not been disclosed on the sale, being unknown to the seller. Held: Under the National Conditions of Sale, it is the purchaser who takes the risk of there being … Continue reading William Sindall Plc v Cambridgeshire County Council: CA 21 May 1993
The parties owned properties part of a building estate. The properties had been held under leases, but those had been enfranchised. The question was as to how the easements granted by the leases were preserved on enfranchisement. A particular . .
References: (1937) 57 CLR 666, [1937] HCA 52 Links: Austlii Coram: Dixon J, Latham CJ Ratio: (High Court of Australia) Cases of mutual wills are only one example of a wider category of cases, for example secret trusts, in which a court of equity will intervene to impose a constructive trust. Latham CJ described a … Continue reading Birmingham v Renfrew; 11 Jun 1937
References: Gazette 10-Jul-1996, Times 08-Apr-1996, [1998] QB 22 Coram: Mr Justice Neill, Lord Justice Peter Gibson and Lord Justice Hobhouse Ratio: There was no maintenance in the assignment of debt though litigation was required to recover it. It remains objectionable to traffic in litigation. The assignment had no essence in maintenance and was contemplated by … Continue reading Camdex International Ltd v Bank of Zambia: CA 3 Apr 1996