The Facts
Mr Barton sought to buy a property (“Nash House”) from Foxpace Ltd (“Foxpace”). On two separate occasions he, or a company he controlled, entered into an agreement to purchase the property from Foxpace. On both occasions the deposit was paid but the remaining money for completion was not. On both occasions Foxpace rescinded the agreement. Mr Barton accordingly incurred wasted expenditure of about £1.2m.
In order to try to recover his £1.2m Mr Barton made an oral agreement with a Mr Rooke acting for Foxpace. The agreement was a unilateral contract under which: “Foxpace was liable to pay Mr Barton the sum of £1.2m in the event that Nash House was sold to a purchaser introduced by Mr Barton for the sum £6.5m” (as found at first instance). That was the full extent of the agreement. Further, there was not even a discussion as to what would happen if the property were sold for less than £6.5m.
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Please click on this link to read the full article, by Paul de la Piquerie