Central London Property Trust v High Trees House
1947 · [1947] KB 130
Posted By lanbuk.com
- Facts
- In 1940 a landlord agreed to halve the ground rent of a block of flats, because many were empty in the war. After the war, it claimed the full rent.
- Issue
- Could the landlord recover the full rent for the war years, and from when could it charge the full rent?
- Held
- Denning J held that the promise bound the landlord while the conditions it was made for lasted, so it could not recover the full rent for that period. Full rent was payable from mid-1945, when the flats were full again.
- Principle
- A clear promise not to enforce strict legal rights, made within an existing relationship and relied on, binds the promisor where it would be inequitable to go back on it.
- Why it matters
- It is the foundation of .
Words and Latin in this note
- Promissory estoppel
- A promise not to insist on a strict right, which the other person has relied on. The promisor may be stopped from going back on it. It restrains a right. It does not, by itself, create a new claim. Open the note.
- Estoppel
- A rule that stops a person from going back on something they said or did when another person relied on it. Open the note.
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