Hopes, Expectations and Revocable Promises in Proprietary Estoppel

Abstract

This note dicusses the House of Lords' decisions in Cobbe v Yeoman's Row Management Ltd (Cobbe) and Thorner v Major (Thorner) regarding the nature and scope of proprietary estoppel. It considers the historical development of the modern law of proprietary estoppel, the circumstances in which equity will render a promise irrevocable, and the role of context in the ascription of responsibility.