Where a sale contract is conditional on one party obtaining an acceptable planning permission and that party agrees to use all reasonable endeavours to fulfill that condition as soon as possible, that party will not be allowed to exercise any right to cancel the contract that arises because the Condition was not fulfilled by a “Cut-off Date”, if the reason for non-fulfillment was that party’s own breach of that obligation.
That principle was reaffirmed by the Court of Appeal in Bristol Rovers (1883) Ltd. -v- Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Limited (2016).
But in that case Sainsbury’s were not guilty of any breach of their contractual obligations and that principle did not prevent them from cancelling the contract.
However the court did make it clear that Sainsbury’s obligation to use all reasonable endeavours survived the “Cut-off Date” and lasted right up to the point where they actually exercised their right of cancellation.
This blog has been posted out of general interest. It does not replace the need to get bespoke legal advice in individual cases.
Original article: Contracts: Duty to use reasonable endeavours can survive cut-off date.
