The claimant and his brother jointly inherited a substantial area of land from their father. As part of an agreement to divide the assets, the claimant agreed to sell his share of the land to his brother, at a price to be settled by the defendant valuers acting for the claimant and another firm acting for the brother. Following the sale, the claimant alleged that the defendants had negligently arrived at too low a valuation, specifically because they had failed to appreciate the potential of the land for residential development. In rejecting (by a majority) this allegation, the Court of Appeal pointed out that the defendant could only be held liable 'if no reasonably competent valuer, acting carefully, could have formed the view that it had no development potential'.
