Residential Focus - 6 April 2016

In the recent case of Buckworth v Gladio Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 54 the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered a right to rescind a 2013 contract for the sale of shares, ownership of which carried the right to exclusive occupancy of a company title apartment. Buckworth was the vendor (the Vendor) and Gladio was the purchaser (the Purchaser) of the shares. The appeal focussed on two main issues:

1. whether there was consent by the building owner to the sale of shares (required under clause 6.1) or whether consent was conditional upon the Purchaser accepting and agreeing to be bound by certain house rules introduced after the exchange of the contract; and
2. whether the Vendor was in breach of an acknowledgment and agreement in the contract that it was a condition of the contract that the books and records of the building owner were properly kept (clause 10(g)).