A Statutory demand and a claim for Proprietary Estoppel

[Help74]

• In 2020, me and my ex-partner agreed to sell our separate homes and buy a property together to live in.
• Due to the funds owed to my ex from her ex husband, from her house sale and a financial settlement, we decided to also buy an investment property.
• We found a residential property we liked which required a full renovation.
• A mortgage advisor advised us to buy the residential property and renovation works in solely my ex partners name and my funds be used to buy the investment property.
• We both sold our properties.
• After my ex brought our residential property in her name, it became apparent that she had been untruthful regarding her financial situation. She had no money to pay for the renovation.
• I agreed to not buy an investment property and to use my funds to renovate the property bought solely in my ex’s name.
• My ex promised I would be added to the title and that a joint mortgage between us would fund further renovations.
• After I spent £115,000 the renovation, my ex refused to sign the mortgage documents, 3 months later, and withheld adding me to the property title. I had used all my funds on the renovation.
• She falsely claimed she needed to wait for builder lawsuits and the sale of the house to repay me.
• Later, I discovered she had instead taken out a joint mortgage with her son and had no intention of selling the house.
• She also benefits financially from the property through Airbnb income from an annex built during renovations.

My questions are !) Could I make a statutory demand for the money I invested into the property for the sole purpose of renovating the property and would I be able to claim interest on this amount. I have bank statements confirming these amounts paid to the builders and also texts from my ex saying she cant repay me until the house is sold or after going to court against the builders ??

2) Could I then make a separate claim for Proprietary Estoppel for the losses I have made and having acted to my detriment. I sold my home to buy one jointly with my ex. I then did not buy an investment property and instead used all my funds to invest in my ex property (we were both going to be living in as our residential property) with the promise of having a beneficial interest in the property. This was due to her having fabricated her financial situation. If I had not invested in the property she would of been left with no money to renovate it and also not in a financial position to obtain a joint mortgage with her son, due to them not having the joint income to secure this. My investment enabled them to obtain this. She is also enjoying an Airbnb income from an Annex being built as part of the renovation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Kind Regards.

[atticus]

1. A statutory demand can be served for a clear and undisputable debt. You do not describe such a thing, but rather a claim that a court will have to decide. On the information given, I think a statutory demand is likely to be set aside, probably with a significant order for you to pay the costs.

2. You may well have a proprietary estoppel claim, or a claim on some other Equitable* basis to an interest in the property.

3. You will have to decide. The claims to be owed money as a debt and to have a beneficial interest in the property are mutually exclusive. You cannot have both.

4. I take it that your correspondence as discussed in your earlier thread did not produce the desired results.

5. You should take professional advice. See a good solicitor.


*Equity is a very precise and at times abstruse area of the law.