[1961]DLHC5503 • June 19, 1961 • High Court
ROURA & FORGAS LTD. vs. BRITISH BATA SHOE CO. LTD.
The plaintiffs and defendants entered into an agreement for the sale and purchase of a freehold property for £G27,750. The defendants accepted the offer but later refused to complete the transaction, contending that the plaintiffs' root of title conveyed only a life interest, not a freehold estate, due to the absence of the words 'and their heirs' in the conveyance deeds dated 1943 and 1944.
read moreBy an agreement reached between the plaintiffs and the defendants, confirmed by letter of offer by the plaintiffs dated the 11th February, 1960, and accepted by the defendants by letter dated the 15th February, 1960, the plaintiffs agreed to sell and the defendants agreed to buy the property the subject-matter of this suit. The material paragraph in the defendants’ letter of acceptance is as follows: “For the sake of order we hereby confirm that we have agreed to pay you the sum of £G27,750 for the freehold property on completion of transfer of title by the agreed solicitors.” The defendants now refuse to complete the said agreement on the grounds that the plaintiffs’ root of title, namely, conveyances dated the 26th February, 1943, the 31st March, 1944, and the 31st March, 1944 conveyed only a life interest in the hereditaments and premises, the subject-matter of the sale, and therefore the plaintiffs as purchaser from the grantees under the deeds, are incapable of grantin...