Court Court of Appeal | ||
Citation(s) [1972] EWCA Civ 6, [1972] Ch 359 | ||
Binions v Evans [1972] EWCA Civ 6 is an English land law case, concerning licenses in land.
Contents
Facts
Mr and Mrs Binions promised the trustees of Tredegar Estate to allow Mrs Evans to remain in her cottage for life when they bought the property from Tredegar Estate. She had been widowed and was said to be a ‘tenant at will’.
Judgment
Lord Denning MR held that Mrs Evans could assert her right to remain in the cottage against the Binions even though she had no legal or equitable property right as such.
A contractual licence is itself an equitable interest in land.
Megaw LJ held that Mrs Evans had rather an equitable life interest, more than a contractual licence. He noted the possibility of a tort being commissioned if someone knowingly acquires a right with the intention of not allowing someone to exercise their contractual right. ‘However, it may be that there are special technical considerations in the law relating to land that would require to be reviewed before one could confidently assert that the ordinary principles as to the protection of known contractual rights would apply.’