Cases - Walsh v Griffiths-Jones and Durant

Record details

Name
Walsh v Griffiths-Jones and Durant
Date
[1978]
Citation
AII ER 1002
Legislation
Keywords
Estate agency - Rent Act 1977
Summary

A firm of estate agents advertised that they could arrange for occupation of property without the protection of the Rent Act 1977. Mr and Mrs Walsh, the owners of a house divided into flats, instructed the agents to arrange occupation accordingly and expressly denied them any authority to create a tenancy protected by the Rent Act. Mrs Walsh did, however, tell the prospective occupiers that they must deal with the agents and sent them to the agents' office telling them that the agents would attend to all the details of the agreement whereby they were to reside in the flat. The agents purported to grant a licence outside Rent Act protection, but it was held to be a tenancy within the Act. The plaintiffs claimed they were not bound by the tenancy as the agent had acted without authority.

The county court judge stated that the instructions that the agent would attend to all the details of the agreement was one of the clearest cases of holding out an agent as having full authority that he could recall. Consequently the defendant was bound by the tenancy agreement.