header-logo header-logo

Informal land rights, estoppel & Spencer

24 November 2023 / Sukhninder Panesar
Issue: 8050 / Categories: Features , Property
printer mail-detail
147360
Sukhninder Panesar covers recent developments affecting proprietary estoppel, including a son’s claim to the farm he was promised
  • Explains that the doctrine of proprietary estoppel is not affected by the Law of Property Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1989.
  • Covers the case of Spencer v Spencer & Ors, concerning a son’s claim to the family farm.

In a recent decision of the High Court in Michael John Spencer v Estate of John Mitchell Spencer (Deceased), Penelope Anne Spencer, Jane Mary Flower [2023] EWHC 2050 (Ch), [2023] All ER (D) 66 (Aug) the court was asked whether an informal right in law could be established using the doctrine of proprietary estoppel thereby bypassing the need to comply with writing. This article explores the decision in this case and explains that the jurisprudence of the High Court is cementing into the common law of England and Wales a firmly established principle that the equitable doctrine of proprietary estoppel is not affected by s 2(1) of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989.

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Ella Johnson

Muckle LLP—Ella Johnson

Real estate dispute resolution team welcomes newly qualified solicitor

Morr & Co—Dennis Phillips

Morr & Co—Dennis Phillips

International private client team appoints expert in Spanish law

NLJ Career Profile: Stefan Borson, McCarthy Denning

NLJ Career Profile: Stefan Borson, McCarthy Denning

Stefan Borson, football finance expert head of sport at McCarthy Denning, discusses returning to the law digging into the stories behind the scenes

NEWS
Paper cyber-incident plans are useless once ransomware strikes, argues Jack Morris of Epiq in NLJ this week
In this week's NLJ, Robert Hargreaves and Lily Johnston of York St John University examine the Employment Rights Bill 2024–25, which abolishes the two-year qualifying period for unfair-dismissal claims
Writing in NLJ this week, Manvir Kaur Grewal of Corker Binning analyses the collapse of R v Óg Ó hAnnaidh, where a terrorism charge failed because prosecutors lacked statutory consent. The case, she argues, highlights how procedural safeguards—time limits, consent requirements and institutional checks—define lawful state power
Michael Zander KC, emeritus professor at LSE, revisits his long-forgotten Crown Court Study (1993), which surveyed 22,000 participants across 3,000 cases, in the first of a two-part series for NLJ
Getty Images v Stability AI Ltd [2025] EWHC 2863 (Ch) was a landmark test of how UK law applies to AI training—but does it leave key questions unanswered, asks Emma Kennaugh-Gallagher of Mewburn Ellis in NLJ this week
back-to-top-scroll