Proprietary Estoppel Remedies in Hong Kong: Lessons from Singapore, England, and Australia

Abstract

This article addresses the remedial approach which ought to be taken in relation to proprietary estoppel, an important matter which Hong Kong courts have yet to address explicitly. Drawing from the divergent experiences of England, Australia and Singapore, it makes two central points. First, the provision of expectation relief, as opposed to compensation for reliance loss (the "minimum equity" approach) ought to be adopted as a weak starting point for analysis. Second, to say that "expectation relief" is the starting point should be taken to mean that the claimant's expectation will prima facie be enforced in specie, as opposed simply to a prima facie award of the monetary value of the claim..