Inner House case concerning the interpretation of a minute of agreement between the owners of a development site in Ayr (the trustees) and Dickie & Moore.

The Trustees and Dickie & Moore had concluded missives for the sale of the site but later Dickie & Moore resiled from the missives (after paying an abortion fee). Dickie & Moore had been attempting to obtain planning permission for the site. When they resiled from the missives, the parties agreed that Dickie & Moore would continue to seek planning permission and the parties entered the minute of agreement by which the trustees would reimburse Dickie & Moore for professional costs if the trustees were to agree unconditional missives (i.e. missives which were not conditional on the obtaining of planning consent) with a third party.

The trustees entered unconditional missives to sell the site to a third party and, despite the fact that they had not succeeded in obtaining planning permission, they sought recovery of their professional costs from the trustees.

The minute of agreement provided:

“AND WHEREAS it has been agreed between the parties that in the event of the Sellers concluding unconditional (that is not subject or no longer subject to a suspensive condition) missives with a third party for the sale of the said subjects extending to 6.293 hectares or a substantial part thereof during the shorter of the period when the Planning Consent obtained or to be obtained by DMH for the development of the said subjects remains extant and the period of five years from the date of these presents, as the case shall be, the Sellers will reimburse DMH the full amount of the said professional fees together with any further vouched professional fees (up to a maximum of TEN THOUSAND POUNDS (£10,000) STERLING) incurred by DMH in obtaining such Planning Consent”

The question for the court was whether, in terms of the agreement, Dickie & Moore were entitled to recover their professional costs incurred in pursing the planning permission when the trustees concluded unconditional missives with the third party despite the fact that Dickie & Moore had not obtained planning permission.

The Inner House (allowing an appeal) took the view that the whole structure and purpose of the agreement was predicated on Dickie & Moore successfully pursuing their outstanding planning application. The Court did not consider that the parties had agreed to a situation whereby Dickie & Moore could achieve nothing in respect of planning consent but, provided that there was a sale within five years of the date of the minute of agreement, would be entitled to payment of the fees they had already incurred. Lady Clark made the following comments as regards the commercial sense of the possible interpretations:

“It is very difficult to understand why it would make any commercial common sense for the [the trustees] to pay substantial fees, for which they were not liable, in circumstances where [Dickie & Moore] were not obliged to achieve anything in relation to future planning consent but became entitled to repayment merely in the event of a sale to a third party within five years of the minute of agreement.”

The full judgement is available from Scottish Courts here.