The claimants sought commission or a quantum meruit for the part they had taken in finding a suitable site for the defendant’s High Commission in London.
Held: The works undertaken were consistent with the claimant seeking work from the defendant. No contract had been signed, and the defendant had indicated a reluctance to agree to the terms proposed. The company had not been the effective cause of the purchase. The company had been acting as an estate agent within the 1989 Act and was under a duty to provide the information required by the regulations. No contract had been formed. The company itself had only been formed part way through the work for which it claimed payment. For assorted reasons, the claims in quantum meruit failed also.
Christophe Clarke J
[2009] EWHC 121 (QB)
Bailii
Estate Agents Act 1989 18, Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991 (1991/859). 18(4)
England and Wales
Citing:
Mentioned – Jenning and Chapman Ltd v Woodman Matthews and Co 1952
. .
Mentioned – Brewer Street Investment v Barclays Woollen Co CA 1953
A prospective tenant for whom a landlord had carried out alterations on the premises was not permitted to break off negotiations for the lease solely to escape liability for the cost of such alterations. Lord Denning said: ‘What, then, is the . .
Mentioned – William Lacey (Hounslow) Ltd v Davis 1957
The builder tendered for work, apparently not on the basis that the tender might or might not be accepted but so that the owner could use the tender for what was described as ‘some extraneous or collateral purpose’, for negotiating a claim for . .
Mentioned – British Steel Corporation v Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co Ltd 1983
An ‘if contract’ is where one party makes an offer capable of acceptance on the basis that ‘if you do this for us, we will do that for you’. Often used in the construction industry.
Goff J said: ‘the question whether . . any contract has come . .
Cited – Wood (John D) and Co v Dantata; Beauchamp Estates v Dantata CA 1987
The purchaser liked inspecting houses and the vendor had appointed ten firms to act for him as estate agents. Each of the estate agents was approached by this purchaser and each of the estate agents took the would be purchaser over the property of . .
Mentioned – Marston Construction C Ltd v Kigass Ltd 1989
. .
Cited – Regalian Properties Plc and Another v London Docklands Development Corporation ChD 25-Jan-1995
Negotiations intended to result in a contract were expressly on the basis that each party was free to withdraw from the negotiations at any time, the costs of a party in preparing for the intended contract were incurred at its own risk and it was . .
Cited – Countrywide Communications Limited v ICL Pathway Ltd 1996
The court considered the authorities bearing on the question of whether or not a claim under a quantum meruit can successfully be made for work done in anticipation of a contract which does not materialise. Strauss J concluded: ‘I have found it . .
Cited – Standard Life Assurance Company (Incorporated Under Laws of Scotland By Act of Parliament) v Egan Lawson Limited CA 21-Nov-2000
The defendant appealed against judgment in favour of his (buyer’s) estate agent for his commission in finding the property for it. A previous offer was rejected by the seller, but a subsequent agent of the buyer obtained the acceptance of a further . .
Cited – Baird Textiles Ltd v Marks and Spencer plc CA 28-Feb-2001
The more embryonic is an oral ‘agreement’, the less likely it is that the parties intended to create legal relations at that stage. For there to be an agreement formed by conduct, there must be a course of dealing from which a contract is . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Agency, Contract
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.280257
