Michael Cantrell v Wycombe District Council [electronic resource]
Michael Cantrell v Wycombe District Council [electronic resource]
- 2008
[2008] EWCA Civ 866. Case found that S609 of the Housing Act 1985 did not permit enforcement of positive covenants against a subsequent purchaser of the freehold. Appellant (C) appealed against attempts by a local housing association to use the aforementioned act to empower positive obligations in an agreement written between the housing association (W) and the local authority. C purchased a property from W, who had purchased it from another registered social landlord. An agreement between W and the local authority was registered as a local land charge, the details of which became apparent after a search was carried out subsequent to C's purchase. W had agreed to carry out certain maintenance as part of an agreement to provide housing to nominated persons in the local community. The local authority in turn had paid W part funding for the property and maintained that as it had made an investment in housing stock that it was entitled to retain control of said stock under the auspices of S609. Held: appeal allowed. S609 enabled a covenant to be enforced 'in like manner' as if it had been interested in 'such land'. In absence of contrary authority, the legislation must have been intended to disapply the requirement that the covenantee retained land and the requirements that the covenants were enforceable to the extent that they benefited land of the covenantee. Parliament could not have intended to put a local housing authority in the position that no private landowner could make the burden of positive covenants run with freehold land.
MICHAEL CANTRELL V WYCOMBE DISTRICT COUNCIL
GEE V NATIONAL TRUST FOR PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST OR NATURAL BEAUTY
HOUSING ACT 1957 S151
HOUSING ACT 1985 S609
IRC V JOINER
RHONE V STEPHENS
LCC V ALLEN
LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 1982 S33
United Kingdom--
[2008] EWCA Civ 866. Case found that S609 of the Housing Act 1985 did not permit enforcement of positive covenants against a subsequent purchaser of the freehold. Appellant (C) appealed against attempts by a local housing association to use the aforementioned act to empower positive obligations in an agreement written between the housing association (W) and the local authority. C purchased a property from W, who had purchased it from another registered social landlord. An agreement between W and the local authority was registered as a local land charge, the details of which became apparent after a search was carried out subsequent to C's purchase. W had agreed to carry out certain maintenance as part of an agreement to provide housing to nominated persons in the local community. The local authority in turn had paid W part funding for the property and maintained that as it had made an investment in housing stock that it was entitled to retain control of said stock under the auspices of S609. Held: appeal allowed. S609 enabled a covenant to be enforced 'in like manner' as if it had been interested in 'such land'. In absence of contrary authority, the legislation must have been intended to disapply the requirement that the covenantee retained land and the requirements that the covenants were enforceable to the extent that they benefited land of the covenantee. Parliament could not have intended to put a local housing authority in the position that no private landowner could make the burden of positive covenants run with freehold land.
MICHAEL CANTRELL V WYCOMBE DISTRICT COUNCIL
GEE V NATIONAL TRUST FOR PLACES OF HISTORIC INTEREST OR NATURAL BEAUTY
HOUSING ACT 1957 S151
HOUSING ACT 1985 S609
IRC V JOINER
RHONE V STEPHENS
LCC V ALLEN
LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 1982 S33
United Kingdom--