Cases - Ackroyd & Sons v Hasan

Record details

Name

Ackroyd & Sons v Hasan

Date

[1960]

Citation

2 QB 144

Keywords

Estate agency - commission

Summary

Estate agents were instructed to find buyers for part of business premises.

They were to become entitled to their commission:

'... in the event of our introduction of a party prepared to enter into a contract to purchase on ... terms to which [the vendors] may assent'.

The agents introduced prospective purchasers who eventually signed a contract which was sent to the vendors' solicitor. This followed many weeks of negotiations during which all the details of the agreement had been thrashed out and the solicitors for both sides had reached agreement. In the view of the Court of Appeal, the purchasers were, therefore, 'prepared to enter into a contract to purchase'.

Unfortunately, it was not until the vendors' solicitor took the contract to the vendors to sign that they informed him that they wished to retain a small part of the premises for storage. Therefore the second element of the commission event was not satisfied because the vendors had not assented to the contract terms. So the Court of Appeal reluctantly held that no commission was due.