Cases - Registered Holdings v Kadri

Record details

Name

Registered Holdings v Kadri

Date

(1972)

Citation

EGD 319

Keywords

Estate agency

Summary

A house was put up for sale by auction. It was in a slum clearance area subject to a provisional compulsory purchase order and part of the house was subject to a closing order because it was unfit for human habitation. This part included the kitchen and the lavatory. The vendors were aware of the orders but did not inform the auctioneer.

A prospective purchaser of a house was assured by a telephonist employed by the auctioneers that it was not subject to any slum clearance or other local authority orders. The purchaser bid for the property at the auction and then discovered that the house was subject to slum clearance and closing orders. It was held that the purchaser was entitled to rescind the contract of sale for misrepresentation.

At the auction, when the bidding was slack, the auctioneer described the property as a 'nice house' in order to encourage bidding. Mr Justice Goff stated that by no stretch of the imagination could a house subject to slum clearance and closing orders be described as 'nice'. He held that the description went beyond the realm of puff and was a misrepresentation. The contract of sale was rescinded.