(New Zealand) Mr Plimmer had occupied land under a revocable licence from the Corporation’s predecessor-in-title and at their request had made extensive improvements to it. He sought compensation when the land was to be vested in the defendant. The defendant denied that he had a sufficient interest.
Held: A person having a reasonable expectation that his occupation would not be disturbed had an interest in land for the purposes of a compensation statute. He had incurred expense at the request of the Government, the owners of the land. These circumstances ‘were sufficient to create in his [Plimmer’s] mind a reasonable expectation that his occupation would not be disturbed . . ‘ In effect, the owner of the land became estopped from asserting that the licence remained revocable. That was sufficient to constitute the licence an ‘estate or interest’ for compensation purposes.
Sir Arthur Hobhouse said: ‘the equity arising from expenditure on land need not fail merely on the ground that the interest to be secured has not been expressly indicated.’ The general aim of a court applying principles of equity is to ‘look at the circumstances in each case to decide in what way the equity can be satisfied’.
Judges:
Sir Arthur Hobhouse
Citations:
[1884] 9 AC 699
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Yaxley v Gotts and Another CA 24-Jun-1999
Oral Agreement Creating Proprietory Estoppel
The defendant offered to give to the Plaintiff, a builder, the ground floor of a property in return for converting the house, and then managing it. They were friends, and the oral offer was accepted. The property was then actually bought in the name . .
Cited – Pennine Raceway Ltd v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 1983
The claimant had been granted a contractual right to use an airfield for arranging motor racing events. The planning consent was revoked, and compensation was claimed under s164 as ‘a person interested in the land’ which ‘is a section designed to . .
Cited – International Traders Ferry Ltd v Adur District Council CA 26-Feb-2004
The council served a stop notice. The company sought compensation. The council replied that the company had no legal or equitable interest in the land affected.
Held: The company had occupied the land under a licence. A contractual licensee on . .
Cited – Yeoman’s Row Management Ltd and Another v Cobbe HL 30-Jul-2008
The parties agreed in principle for the sale of land with potential development value. Considerable sums were spent, and permission achieved, but the owner then sought to renegotiate the deal.
Held: The appeal succeeded in part. The finding . .
Cited – Western Fish Products Ltd v Penwith District Council and Another CA 22-May-1978
Estoppel Cannot Oust Statutory Discretion
The plaintiff had been refused planning permission for a factory. The refusals were followed by the issue of Enforcement Notices and Stop Notices. The plaintiff said that they had been given re-assurances upon which they had relied.
Held: The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Equity
Updated: 20 December 2022; Ref: scu.193607