Liability for the Costs of Non-Parties

The claimant, Individual Homes Limited, sought specific performance of an agreement for the sale and purchase of land. One of the issues in the case was whether the defendant, Macbream Investments Limited, was able to complete the transaction at the time it served a notice to complete on the claimant. The claimant alleged that the property was subject to a mortgage and that the mortgagee (Halifax Bank of Scotland plc (the Bank), which was not a party to the case) had not agreed to the sale and would not have agreed to discharge its mortgage to allow completion. To prove this, the claimant needed various documents held by the Bank.