Disclaimer: This work was produced by one of our expert legal writers, as a learning aid to help law students with their studies.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of LawTeacher.net. Any information contained in this case summary does not constitute legal advice and should be treated as educational content only.

Yaxley v Gotts [2000]

304 words (1 pages) Case Summary

17th Jun 2019 Case Summary Reference this In-house law team

Jurisdiction / Tag(s): UK Law

Yaxley v Gotts [2000] Ch 162

Proprietary estoppel and constructive trusts.

Facts:

The claimant, Yaxley, made an oral agreement with the defendant that Yaxley would refurbish and convert a house belonging to the defendant into flats and in return the claimant would own the ground floor flat. However, the defendant arranged for his son to buy the property and refused to convey the ground floor flat to the claimant, denying any agreement had been made. 

Issues:

The defendant argued that the oral contract was void as it did not comply with the formality requirements of s.2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, which stated that all contracts for land must be in writing. They also contended that consequently the remedy of estoppel was inappropriate. 

Held:

The Court of Appeal found in favour of Yaxley. The court held that under s.2(5) of the 1989 Act constructive or resulting trusts of land do not need to be in writing. Walker LJ said that estoppel should not be used to circumvent a statue. However, where there was a finding of an estoppel there would also be a constructive trust. As the two remedies are indistinguishable he used a trust analysis to find the agreement did not need to be in writing and so was valid. However, Beldam LJ disagreed and held that these public policy considerations were not enough to prevent a claim of estoppel. Therefore, he said that estoppel was the correct remedy despite s.2(1) of the 1989 Act. Consequently, the court ordered that Yaxley be given a 99 year lease or the equivalent sum in order to satisfy his equitable interest. 

Cite This Work

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below:

Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.
Reference Copied to Clipboard.

Related Services

View all

Related Content

Jurisdictions / Tags

Content relating to: "UK Law"

UK law covers the laws and legislation of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Essays, case summaries, problem questions and dissertations here are relevant to law students from the United Kingdom and Great Britain, as well as students wishing to learn more about the UK legal system from overseas.

Related Articles