John Summers considers two recent important property law decisions
This update scrutinises Yeates v Line [2012] EWHC 3085 (Ch)—a decision of the High Court which considers whether certain statutory formalities apply to agreements concluded in settlement of boundary disputes—and Pankhania v Chandegra [2012] EWCA Civ 1438, a Court of Appeal decision which considers the effect of an express declaration of trust on a subsequent claim to a different beneficial share in the subject property.
Yeates v Line
In early 2011, the appellants (AS) made an application to the Land Registry to have the registered title to certain land (the land) altered to show them as proprietors. AS alleged that they had acquired title to the land by adverse possession. The registered owners of the land were the respondents (RS) who objected to the application. The dispute was referred to the adjudicator to the Land Registry. Although she found that AS had been in adverse possession as alleged, she declined to order alteration of the register on the basis that the parties had reached a binding oral agreement compromising the dispute, and that this
