Tan Hin Leong v Lee Teck Im: Contractual Licence, Property Occupation Rights

In Tan Hin Leong v Lee Teck Im, the Court of Appeal of Singapore heard an appeal regarding a decision that Lee Teck Im had a contractual licence to occupy a property owned by Tan Hin Leong for her lifetime. The dispute arose after Lee Teck Im sold a property she co-owned and Tan Hin Leong sought to terminate her occupation of his property. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the deed between the parties created a contractual licence for Lee Teck Im's lifetime, terminable only upon her death or breach of the deed's covenants.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Appeal dismissed.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal regarding a contractual licence to occupy property. The court held that the respondent had a lifetime contractual licence, not terminable at will.

1.7 Decision Date

29 January 2001

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Tan Hin Leong	Appellant	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Cheong Yuen Hee of CM Sum & Co Sum Chong Mun of CM Sum & Co
Lee Teck Im	Respondent	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Won	James Ponniah of CP Lee & Co CP Lee of CP Lee & Co

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Chao Hick Tin	Justice of the Court of Appeal	Yes
L P Thean	Justice of the Court of Appeal	No
Yong Pung How	Chief Justice	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Cheong Yuen Hee	CM Sum & Co
Sum Chong Mun	CM Sum & Co
James Ponniah	CP Lee & Co
CP Lee	CP Lee & Co

4. Facts

Tan Choon Swee, the appellant's father, bought the property in 1962 and lived there with the respondent.
In 1983, Tan Choon Swee transferred the property to the appellant as a marriage gift.
In 1987, the appellant and respondent executed a deed stipulating the terms of the respondent's occupation of the property.
The deed stipulated a nominal annual rental of $12 and certain covenants for the respondent.
The respondent undertook not to make any claim adverse to the appellant's rights and interests in the property.
The appellant served notices to quit on the respondent, seeking to terminate her occupation of the property.
The respondent claimed she was entitled to occupy the property for the duration of her life.

5. Formal Citations

Tan Hin Leong v Lee Teck Im, CA 66/2000, [2001] SGCA 7
Tan Hin Leong v Lee Teck Im, , [2000] 3 SLR 85

6. Timeline

Date	Event
1954-01-01	Lee Teck Im met Tan Choon Swee and they began living together.
1962-01-01	Tan Choon Swee bought the property at 4, Jalan Lada Puteh.
1965-01-01	Tan Choon Swee bought the property at 75, Ming Teck Park in the sole name of Lee Teck Im.
1983-12-29	Tan Choon Swee transferred the property at 4, Jalan Lada Puteh to Tan Hin Leong by way of gift.
1987-12-05	Tan Hin Leong and Lee Teck Im executed a deed stipulating the terms upon which Lee Teck Im would remain in occupation of the property.
1988-02-01	Tan Choon Swee died.
1989-01-01	Madam Ang Ah Bak died.
1996-01-01	Lee Teck Im applied to the High Court for an order that the Ming Teck Park property be sold.
1996-12-28	Tan Hin Leong's solicitors issued a notice to quit on Lee Teck Im.
1997-02-21	The High Court granted an order for the Ming Teck Park property to be sold.
1998-06-18	Tan Hin Leong's solicitors issued another notice to quit on Lee Teck Im.
2001-01-30	The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

7. Legal Issues

Whether the licence to occupy the property was contractual
- Outcome: The court held that the licence was contractual, created by the deed executed between the parties.
- Category: Substantive
Whether the contractual licence was terminable
- Outcome: The court held that the contractual licence was not terminable at will but was for the lifetime of the respondent, subject to the terms of the deed.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Possession of Property
Damages for Trespass

9. Cause of Actions

Trespass

10. Practice Areas

Real Estate Law
Civil Litigation

11. Industries

Real Estate

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Tan Hin Leong v Lee Teck Im	High Court	Yes	[2000] 3 SLR 85	Singapore	Affirmed the High Court's decision that the respondent has a contractual licence to occupy the property for the duration of her life.
Hardwick v Johnson	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1978] 2 All ER 935	England and Wales	Discussed in relation to the nature of a contractual licence and whether it was a contractual or equitable licence.
Hardwick v Johnson	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1978] 1 WLR 683	England and Wales	Discussed in relation to the nature of a contractual licence and whether it was a contractual or equitable licence.
Errington v Errington and Woods	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1952] 1 KB 290	England and Wales	Cited as an example of a personal privilege creating a licence.
Balfour v Balfour	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1919] 1 KB 571	England and Wales	Cited as authority for saying there was no contract.
Pettitt v Pettitt	House of Lords	Yes	[1970] AC 777	United Kingdom	Cited in the context of imputing a common intention to the parties.
Tanner v Tanner	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1975] 3 All ER 776	England and Wales	Discussed in relation to implying a contractual licence in favour of the defendants.
Tanner v Tanner	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1975] 1 WLR 1346	England and Wales	Discussed in relation to implying a contractual licence in favour of the defendants.
Binions & Anor v Evans	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1972] Ch 359	England and Wales	Discussed as a case bearing some similarity to the case at hand, regarding a contractual licence resulting in an equitable interest.
Binions & Anor v Evans	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1972] 2 All ER 70	England and Wales	Discussed as a case bearing some similarity to the case at hand, regarding a contractual licence resulting in an equitable interest.
Shell-Mex and BP Ltd v Manchester Garages Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1971] 1 WLR 612	England and Wales	Cited in relation to the status of a contractual licence.
In re Carne`s Settled Estates	High Court of Justice	Yes	[1899] 1 Ch 324	England and Wales	Cited as an example of a right to occupy for life giving rise to an equitable interest.
In re Boyer`s Settled Estates	High Court of Justice	Yes	[1916] 2 Ch 404	England and Wales	Cited as an example of a right to occupy for life giving rise to an equitable interest.
Foster v Robinson	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1951] 1 KB 149	England and Wales	Cited in relation to the courts of equity not allowing the landlord to turn the occupier out in breach of the contract.
Chandler v Kerley	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1978] 2 All ER 942	England and Wales	Discussed in relation to the fusion of law and equity and the protection of a legal right by injunction.
Chandler v Kerley	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1978] 1 WLR 693	England and Wales	Discussed in relation to the fusion of law and equity and the protection of a legal right by injunction.
Hurst v Picture Theatres Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1915] 1 KB 1	England and Wales	Cited in relation to the protection of a legal right by injunction.
Winter Garden Theatre (London) Ltd v Millenium Productions Ltd	House of Lords	Yes	[1948] AC 173	United Kingdom	Cited in relation to the protection of a legal right by injunction.
Dodsworth v Dodsworth	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1973] 228 EG 1115	England and Wales	Cited in relation to not conferring upon the defendants a greater interest than was envisaged by the parties.
Anchor Butter Co Ltd v Tui Foods Ltd	High Court (Commercial List) of Auckland	Yes	[1997] 3 NZLR 107	New Zealand	Distinguished from the present case, as the agreements in Anchor Butter were for an indefinite duration, whereas the deed in the present case created a licence for a definite period.
Neo Hock Pheng v Teo Siew Peng	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1999] 2 SLR 45	Singapore	Cited for the principle that where a licence to occupy a property is given for an indefinite period, such a licence is terminable at will.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Contractual Licence
Deed
Licence to Occupy
Bare Licence
Termination of Licence
Equitable Licence
Tenants-in-common

15.2 Keywords

Contractual Licence
Property
Occupation Rights
Singapore
Court of Appeal

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Licences	95
Land Law	90
Contract Law	85
Property Law	75
Deeds of Gift	60

16. Subjects

Property Law
Contract Law
Licences