The case raised the question of law involving the application of the rule against perpetuities to what, on the claimant’s case, is a right of pre-emption created before the coming into force in 2010 of the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009.’
Held: The right purportedly exercised by the letter had become void for remoteness, and the claim failed. A right of pre-emption is to be treated differently from an option, but that is because a right of pre-emption does not arise independently of the volition of the grantor of the right. A conditional contract is to be distinguished from an option in the sense that a conditional contract will automatically become binding on the occurrence of the contingency in question whereas, even if an option is contingent upon a certain event, it will not automatically become binding independently of the volition of the grantee. It seems to me that there are distinctions between a right of pre-emption, an option, and a conditional contract. An option, provided that it can be triggered independently of the volition of the grantor, may, in addition to the volition of the grantee, be conditional upon external events and yet still remain an option.
Judges:
Hodge QC HHJ
Citations:
[2012] EWHC 1213 (Ch)
Links:
Statutes:
Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009, Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964 9
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Pritchard v Briggs CA 1980
A conveyance of part in 1944 gave a right of pre-emption over retained land. The vendor’s successors the let the retained land to the plaintiff with an option to buy the freehold reversion. The retained land was sold to the defendants in purported . .
Cited – Wilson v Truelove ChD 25-Mar-2003
The claimants requested a declaration that an option to repurchase land was void under the 1964 Act.
Held: The option to repurchase land was prima facie void. The right arose on the coming into existence of the agreement, or at the latest on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Land, Limitation
Updated: 01 November 2022; Ref: scu.460460