is a widely-reported

English land law English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal ...

and

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...

case, concerning cohabitants'

constructive trusts A constructive trust is an equitable remedy imposed by a court to benefit a party that has been wrongfully deprived of its rights due to either a person obtaining or holding a legal property right which they should not possess due to unjust enri ...

and their quantification in a home's equity value.

Facts

Mrs Elayne Oxley had been living, renting in public housing in Page Close,

Bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

, near Dartford and under the Housing Act 1985 before leaving had lived there long enough to have the statutory

right to buy The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Scotland since 1 August 2016 and Wales from 26 January 2019, which gives secure tenants of councils and some housing associations the legal right to buy, at a large ...

. She quit the tenancy losing this valuable right, which on her own the court found she likely in a few years would have exercised. Instead she formed a new home with Mr Allan Hiscock, a First Iraq War soldier who had been captured in September 1987 at 35 Dickens Close. She paid 28%, he paid 48% of £25,200, a mortgage the balance. They both contributed to household expenditure, improvements, maintenance and paying off the mortgage. The parties fell out. Oxley claimed 50% of the proceeds. Hiscock claimed 22% to her would be appropriate taking into account also improvements he had made. At trial in the Bromley County Court, HHJ Hallon held:

"The description given by the claimant, whose evidence I accept, shows that this was a classic pooling of resources, even though there was no joint bank account. . . . All of the evidence which I have heard clearly shows that both were evincing an intention to share the benefit and the burden of 5 Dickens Closejointly and equally. .....from the analysis of the law and the facts in this case, it is clear that the order which the claimant sought in her notice of application is the only one that can properly be made, namely to declare that the claimant is equally entitled, with the defendant, to a half share in the proceeds of sale of the Hartley property ..."

Judgment

Chadwick LJ held Oxley was entitled to a 40% share on the facts, not equal in light of the difference between their initial cash contributions. He said there were two questions (1) was there a

constructive trust A constructive trust is an equitable remedy imposed by a court to benefit a party that has been wrongfully deprived of its rights due to either a person obtaining or holding a legal property right which they should not possess due to unjust enri ...

, and (2) how was it to be quantified. In particular, when there is no expression of what share each was (as in joint tenancy here) then it is up to the courts to decide.

Notes

{{reflist, 2 English land case law Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases 2004 in United Kingdom case law

Facts

Judgment

See also

Notes