Oakwood Constructions Pty Ltd v Wyndon Properties Pty Ltd

Oakwood Constructions Pty Ltd appealed against a decision of the primary judge that it should compensate Wyndon Properties Pty Ltd for the work done on a property that Oakwood had contracted to sell. Wyndon had built a house on the land before settlement of the sale between Oakwood and a third party. Wyndon claimed it was not aware that the third party was not the registered owner of the land until after it had commenced work on the house. Oakwood argued that Wyndon was aware that the third party was not the registered owner of the land, and that one of its employees knew, and that knowledge should have been attributed to Wyndon. The court had to determine if the primary judge was correct in finding that Wyndon had a genuine but mistaken belief that the third party owned the land at the commencement of the works. The court also had to decide if Wyndon was relevantly mistaken so as to engage section 196 of the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) after it learned that the third party was not the registered owner of the land, and if the primary judge erred in granting that relief if a significant amount of the improvements had been made whilst Wyndon was not relevantly mistaken.

The court found that the primary judge was correct in finding that Wyndon had a genuine but mistaken belief that the third party owned the land at the commencement of the works. The court held that Wyndon was relevantly mistaken so as to engage section 196 of the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) after it learned that the third party was not the registered owner of the land, and that the primary judge did not err in granting that relief. The court also found that the primary judge did not err in finding that this was an exceptional case so as to make another order for costs appropriate. The court held that the appeal and cross-appeal be dismissed and that the appellant pay the costs of the respondent to that appeal.