Court implies duty on Seller to cooperate in property sale conveyancing
In the scenario where a defaulting Buyer has its deposit at risk on a flat purchase and arrives at a settlement agreement, to what extent is the Seller impicitly obliged to cooperate in the normal...
View ArticleProperty loss would have occurred regardless of alleged negligence
It’s not enough to have a negligence claim against solicitors or other property professionals. Claimants need to be able to show that the negligence caused the loss claimed and to overcome any defence...
View ArticleNo prospects of planning so negligence did not cause application expense losses
Where a claim for breach of contract is successful, the first set of principles concerns the date of assessment of damages: 1. The overriding principle is that contractual damages are compensatory. The...
View ArticleContext & Special Conditions disapplied Property Sale General VAT Payment...
Where a property sale is liable to VAT the contract should contain a provision identifying the value of the supply and imposing upon the buyer an obligation to pay the VAT to the seller. In CLP Holding...
View ArticleCommercial sense of land contract frustrated completion and return of deposit
Under Section 49(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (“the 1925 Act”) the court has a wide discretion to order the return of a buyer’s deposit if a land purchase falls through and that discretion...
View ArticleSellers’ right to rest of deposit survived rescission of contract
All conveyancers are familiar with the contract clause that says that, if the buyer pays a deposit of less than 10% of the purchase price at exchange of contracts, the seller can require the rest of...
View ArticleLenders had priority over Vendors in “sale and lease back” deals
Homeowners have agreed sale-and-leasebacks deals with investors to overcome debts. In Scott-v-Southern Pacific Mortgages Ltd (2014), properties were sold to buy to let investors on the understanding...
View ArticleExtension beyond deadline: time no longer of essence
In the Court of Appeal case of Buckland v Farmer and Moody [1979] Buckley LJ said of breaches of contract: “If the party who is in the right allows the defaulting party to try to remedy his default...
View ArticlePromissory estoppel could not outflank statutory requirements for variation...
Section 2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 (the 1989 Act) says: “(1) A contract for the sale or other disposition of an interest in land can only be made in writing and only...
View ArticleContracts: Duty to use reasonable endeavours can survive cut-off date
Where a sale contract is conditional on one party obtaining an acceptable planning permission and that party agrees to use all reasonable endeavours to fulfill that condition as soon as possible, that...
View ArticleContract: party had effectively waived the requirement for it’s signature
In what circumstances will a contract result when a written offer document states that it is not binding until signed by the offeree and the offeree does not sign but nevertheless performs in the...
View ArticleDanger of failing to buy on “practical completion”
If your new property is being built your obligation to complete your purchase usually turns on whether the archtect or other contract administrator has certified the building work is “practically...
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