The appellant had bought a house at auction. It had previously been sold by a local authority subject to a covenant by the buyer allowing the authority to nominate tenants. The covenant was said to be binding on successors in title, and was registered as a local land charge. The appellant challenged an order that the house remained subject to the covenant.
Held: The burden of a positive covenant does not pass in common law, but only in equity, and therefore only equitable remedies would be available, typically by injunction. Section 609 operated to confer standing on a statutory body, and did not enlarge the extent to which covenants would have been enforceable if the statutory body had had standing under the general law.
Moore-Bick LJ, Stanley Burnton LJ, Lewison J
[2008] EWCA Civ 866, Times 10-Oct-2008
Bailii
Housing Act 1985 609
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Rhone and Another v Stephens HL 17-Mar-1994
A house was divided, the house being retained along with the roof over the cottage, and giving a covenant to repair the roof on behalf of the owner of the house. The cottage owner sought to enforce the covenant against a later owner of the house. . .
Cited – Gee v National Trust CA 1966
Lord Denning MR considered the effect of section 8 of the 1937 Act which read: ‘Where any person is willing to agree with the National Trust that any land or any part thereof shall so far as his interest in the land enables him to bind it be made . .
Cited – Inland Revenue Commissioners v Joiner HL 26-Nov-1975
HL Surtax – Tax advantage – Transaction in securities – Company recon- struction – Surplus assets o f old company distributed in voluntary liquidation – Agreement for liquidation providing for agreed methods o f . .
Cited – London County Council v Allen 1914
A landowner applied to the plaintiffs for their sanction to a new street scheme. It was given but subject to his covenant to keep certain land unbuilt upon. He gave the covenant. The plaintiffs themselves had no land in the area capable of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Land, Contract
Updated: 22 December 2021; Ref: scu.271221