Cases - Jaggard v Sawyer

Record details

Name

Jaggard v Sawyer

Date

[1995]

Citation

2 AII ER 189

Legislation

Supreme Court Act 1981

Keywords

Party walls – appropriate time to award damages in lieu of injunction – Shelfer - rights of light

Summary

In breach of covenant, the defendants built a property on a residential development in a private cul-de-sac. The plaintiff, who owned another house in the development, began proceedings when the building was at an advanced stage and did not seek an interim injunction. The judge refused to award her a final injunction and awarded damages instead. He made an award of damages based on the sum the defendants might reasonably have paid for a right of way to the new house and the release of the covenant. He awarded the plaintiff, as one of the nine owners of houses in the cul-de-sac, a ninth share of this amount. The plaintiff appealed.

The Court of Appeal upheld the judge's decision to award damages instead of an injunction. On the question of damages, it also upheld the judge's decision. The Court of Appeal agreed with the judge that the value of the right should be what a reasonable seller would sell it for. It held that in situations like this a plaintiff should not be treated as eager to sell but, on the other hand, that the court would not value the right at the ransom price which a very reluctant plaintiff might put on it.

An exposition of the law and cases dealing with when it is appropriate to award damages in lieu of an injunction from Shelfer onwards, and the leading modern authority on this issue, confirming the 4 part test set out in Shelfer as being the basic working rule.