Brightman v Royal Pines Projects Pty Ltd (No 2)

In Brightman v Royal Pines Projects Pty Ltd (No 2), the dispute involved several buyers who had entered into contracts for the sale of apartments "off the plan" with the respondent, Royal Pines Projects Pty Ltd. The buyers sought declarations and injunctions regarding the enforcement of the contracts, specifically focusing on the implied term requiring cooperation in enabling the buyers to obtain finance by permitting their valuers to inspect the apartments. The case was heard by the Supreme Court of Queensland.

The legal issues before the court revolved around whether there was an implied term in the contracts that required the sellers to facilitate the buyers' valuers inspecting the apartments to obtain finance. The buyers argued that such a term was implied given the nature of "off the plan" sales and the reliance on finance to complete the purchase. The court had to determine if the sellers' refusal to allow the inspections breached this implied term and if the sellers could call for completion of the contracts.

The court held that an implied term requiring cooperation to enable the buyers to obtain finance was present in the contracts. This term mandated that the sellers permit the buyers' valuers to inspect the apartments upon request. The sellers' failure to allow the inspections for a week, coupled with construction works preventing access, constituted a breach of the implied term. The court found that the sellers were not entitled to call for completion of the contracts and restrained them from terminating the contracts based on the buyers' failure to settle on the specified date. The court also ordered the sellers to pay the buyers' costs.

The orders of the court declared that the sellers were required to permit the buyers' valuers to inspect the apartments to obtain finance and restrained the sellers from terminating the contracts or calling for completion based on the buyers' inability to settle on the specified date. The court further ordered the sellers to pay the buyers' costs.