ABSTRACT
The relationship between the common intention constructive trust and proprietary estoppel has generated considerable judicial and academic interest in English law. The central suggestion that has been made is that in some situations the doctrines may be merged.1 However, despite numerous references to the relationship between the doctrines, as Nield notes, their ‘confused interrelationship’ has not been addressed.2 Indeed, the case law displays a range of possibilities, not all of which are mutually exclusive. Arguments for the merger of the doctrines thus find resonance in suggestions that the doctrines are almost indistinguishable3 and in their joint discussion and interpretation.4 Yet pronouncements of their relationship have been combined
with a separate and distinct application of each,5 or the application of one in preference to the other.6
