London CC v Allen [1914] 3 KB 642

Court of Appeal

Basic Facts: O agreed with LCC to a covenant not to build on a plot to facilitate future street extension. LCC did not own neighboring land and later, O sold the land to D, who built on it.

Issue for the Court: When can the burden of a restrictive covenant be enforced?

Held: It was ruled that restrictive covenants must relate to land and bind successors only when they benefit the land.

• Buckley LJ noted that restrictive covenants do not run with the land at common law, except in landlord-tenant relationships. In equity, if the covenant benefits land owned by the covenantee, it is enforceable. If the covenantee has no land to benefit from the covenant, it cannot be enforced. Sedley LJ emphasized that the burden of a restrictive covenant cannot be enforced if the covenantee has no land to benefit from it.