Blake Morgan Success in Privy Council Appeal: Court restores Property Rights in Landmark Cayman Appeal

Background

The Britannia Resort, developed in the late 1980s and 1990s in Grand Cayman, offered a combination of hotel facilities, residential units, and shared recreational amenities including a golf course, beach club, and tennis courts. Purchasers of the residential units were promised ongoing rights to use these facilities – rights intended to be attached to their properties and pass to future owners.

These rights were documented in formal agreements and registered against the land titles. However, they were described and entered into the Land Register as “restrictive agreements” rather than “easements” – a mischaracterisation that became central to the case. When the properties were later sold to Cayman Shores Development Ltd, the new owner challenged the enforceability of those rights.

The Privy Council’s ruling

The Privy Council overturned those rulings. In a detailed judgment delivered by Lord Briggs, the Board concluded that:

• The rights granted were, in substance, easements, even if mistakenly labelled as restrictive agreements.
• The registration was valid and effective; the essential purpose of the Registered Land Act, being to provide public notice of property rights, had been fulfilled.
• The Registrar’s approval of the documents and the filing of the instruments confirmed compliance with procedural requirements, despite minor deviations from standard form.

The Board emphasised that the misdescription did not undermine the enforceability of the rights and rejected the notion that form should trump substance in a modern land registration system.

This decision affirms a practical, substance-over-form approach to land registration. It provides much-needed clarity in a jurisdiction where recreational rights are increasingly part of residential and resort developments.