RECTIFICATION NOT AVAILABLE TO RESCUE PARTY FROM BAD BARGAIN

Connolly Ltd v Bellway Homes Ltd [2007] EWHC 895 (Ch); [2007] All ER (D) 182 (Apr)

In Connolly Ltd v Bellway Homes Ltd [2007] EWHC 895 (Ch); [2007] All ER (D) 182 (Apr) Mr Stephen Smith QC, sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court, held that rectification was not available to rescue a party from the consequences of having entered into what turned out to be a bad bargain. On the facts of the case it was held that the claimant could not prove that the written terms of the contract failed to give effect to the common intention of the parties, nor could it prove that the defendant had acted dishonestly or unconscionably. This being the case, it was held that rectification was not available to the claimant. However, the Deputy Judge held that the claimant was entitled to succeed in its alternative claim based on deceit. He held that the representation made by the defendant in relation to the estimated average sales value of the property was so far wide of the mark that it was open to him to infer that the representation had been made dishonestly.