Titanic Quarter Ltd v Neil Rowe
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Deeny J |
| Judgment Date | 2010 |
| Neutral Citation | [2010] NICh 14 |
| Date | 26 August 2010 |
| Court | Chancery Division (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2010] NICh 14 Ref:
DEE7887
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
26/8/10
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
_______
CHANCERY DIVISION
_______
2010 No. 18640
TITANIC QUARTER LIMITED
-v-
NEIL ROWE
_______
DEENY J
[1] The plaintiff in this action was proposing to build an apartment block
at the Abercorn Residential Complex, Titanic Quarter, Belfast. On 5 July 2007
the defendant entered into an agreement for a lease to purchase apartment 3-
19 at the said complex in the sum of £264,500. He paid a contractual deposit
of £26,450. Completion was to be 14 days after the service of the architect’s
certificate of practical completion, namely 8 September 2009. A notice to
complete was served upon him but he did not complete.
[2] On 11 March 2010 the plaintiffs, following a writ and statement of
claim, issued proceedings under Order 86 of the Rules of the Court of
Judicature (NI) 1980, as amended, seeking summary judgment by way of
specific performance of the agreement. In his defence the defendant did not
deny that a valid contract subsisted between him and the plaintiff but pleaded
that such an order for specific performance would be in vain, and that it
would cause the defendant exceptional hardship.
[3] A significant number of such cases have come before the court in the
last year. There was a considerable and rapid rise in the value of property,
and residential property in particular, in Northern Ireland, as elsewhere, in
the years leading up to and including, to some extent, 2007. This has been
followed by a sharp descent in such prices. It has meant that whereas a few
years ago purchasers were bringing applications for specific performance
against vendors, who were unwilling to sell because the value of their
property now exceeded the price agreed with the purchaser, now there is a
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2 cases
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Swift Advances PLC and Justin Heaney
...current Chancery Judge, in a specific performance action in which he upheld the defence of impossibility in Titanic Quarter Ltd v Rowe [2010] NICh 14:- `[20] I respectfully agree with the dicta of Megarry VC in Tito v Wadell [1977] Ch 106; [1977] 3 All ER 129 at 311, 312: “it is old law tha......
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GE Money Secured Loans Ltd and 1. Gerald James Morgan (otherwise Gerald Morgan) -2. Karen Martina Morgan (otherwise Karen Morgan)
...of Mr Justice Deeny in a specific performance action in which he upheld the defence of impossibility in Titanic Quarter Ltd v Rowe [2010] NICh 14:- 8 “[20] I respectfully agree with the dicta of Megarry VC in Tito v Wadell [1977] Ch 106; [1977] 3 All ER 129 at 311, 312: `it is old law that ......