ABSTRACT
TYPES OF LICENCE Thomas v Sorrell (1673) No proprietary rights arise under a licence but it will confer legality on an action A LICENCE COUPLED WITH AN INTEREST OR GRANT Hurst v Picture Theatres Ltd (1915) A licence coupled with a grant is not revocable by the licensor Hounslow LBC v Twickenham Garden Development Ltd (1971) An ‘interest’ in land includes the right and duty to do works on land CONTRACTUAL LICENCES Wood v Leadbitter (1845) A contractual license can be revoked at any time by the licensor and the licensee’s remedy lies in damages Winter Garden Theatre (London) Ltd v Millennium Productions Ltd (1946) Reversed the principle in Wood v Leadbitter. A contractual licence cannot be revoked whilst the contract subsists Verrall v Great Yarmouth BC (1981) The remedy for breach of a contractual licence in land can be specific performance Tanner v Tanner (1975) Consideration for a contractual licence includes giving up rights under a protected tenancy ESTOPPEL LICENCES Inwards v Baker (1965) Greasley v Cooke (1980) Rights arising under estoppel constitute licences in land THE EFFECT ON THIRD PARTIES King v David Allen & Sons (Billposting) Ltd (1916) A licence cannot constitute a proprietary right on land Clore v Theatrical Properties Ltd (1936) A purely personal right cannot bind third parties acquiring rights in property Errington v Errington & Woods (1952) Binions v Evans (1972) A contractual licence can bind a third-party purchaser Ashburn Anstalt v Arnold (1989) A contractual licence cannot bind a third-party unless there is evidence of a constructive trust Re Sharpe (1980) Where rights arise under licence and a constructive trust only those under a constructive trust will be binding
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Vaughan CJ
‘A dispensation or licence properly passeth no interest, nor alters or transfers property in anything, but only makes an action lawful without it had been unlawful.’
