Land Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 4

Land Law - Essay Example 1 As such, the good order of property law is disrupted by proprietary estoppel. In successful proprietary estoppel claims, the court may transfer, change the nature of, or totally rescind proprietary rights. This is accomplished without first requiring the parties to comply with the strict formality tests to which property rights transactions are subject.2 Moreover, it seems that proprietary estoppel violates the all – important principle of property law that there has to be consensus for transfer of interests in property. The underlying notion is that the law of property should function in a manner that protects individual property rights. In addition, while applying it, the court should desist from involving itself in issues related to distributive justice. These issues are the preserve of the legislature and other branches of law. 3 As such, a certain amount of support is provided to proprietary estoppel by those who believe that it permits the courts to redistribute property rights, with scant regard for the owner’s consent. Such thinking is challenged by those who contend that equity should not trespass into realms, wherein the parties can be expected to control their relationship by means of a binding contract. 4 In Yaxley v Gotts,5 the court reiterated that in accordance with the principles of proprietary estoppel, it was unconscionable for a promisor to break the promise made to the promisee. A very important conclusion to be derived is that an agreement that does not comply with Section 2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, can all the same be enforced by resorting to the doctrine of proprietary estoppel.6 In Pritchard v Briggs, the Court of Appeal held that an interest in land was not created by a right of pre – emption, acting in isolation. What was required, in addition, was the