Overbrooke Estates Ltd v Glencombe Properties Ltd

Overbrooke Estates Ltd v Glencombe Properties Ltd [1974] 3 All ER 511 is an English contract law

English contract law

English contract law is a body of law regulating contracts in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries across the Commonwealth , and the United States...

case, concerning misrepresentation

Misrepresentation in English law

Misrepresentation in English law is an area of English contract law, which allows a person to escape a contractual obligation or claim compensation for losses. If one person can show that she entered an agreement because of another person's false assurances, then the other person will be unable to...

Facts

Glencombe Properties bid for Overbrooke’s property at an auction in the Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch

Marble Arch

Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...

. The property was 63 Hertford Road, Islington

Islington

Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

. Conditions R(b) of the sale said,

‘The vendors do not make or give and neither the Auctioneers nor any person in the employment of the Auctioneers has any authority to make or give any representation or warranty in relation to these premises.’

The auctioneers, Wilmotts, represented to Glencombe that the local council had no plans for the property and were not interested in compulsory purchase. After Glencombe made a successful bid, the council told Glencombe the property would be purchased in its slum

Slum

A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...

clearance programme. So Glencombe refused to pay Overbrooke. Overbrooke sought specific performance. It was contended that any liability for misrepresentation had been validly excluded under s 3 of the Misrepresentation Act 1967

Misrepresentation Act 1967

Misrepresentation Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which regulates English contract law and unjust enrichment, so far as relevant for misrepresentations.-Section 1:-Section 2:...

Judgment

Brightman J held that Overbrooke Estates Ltd were not responsible and could get specific performance. Condition R(b) was effective - not to exclude liability, but to define their duty so that responsibility for the auctioneer's negligent statements was never assumed. The condition meant that no ostensible authority had been given to the auctioneers as agents to make representations on Overbrooke's behalf. Therefore s 3 MA 1967 did not apply.

Facts

Judgment

See also