Sale of Goods Act 1979

39 Unpaid seller’s rights.U.K.

(1)Subject to this and any other Act, notwithstanding that the property in the goods may have passed to the buyer, the unpaid seller of goods, as such, has by implication of law—

(a)a lien on the goods or right to retain them for the price while he is in possession of them;

(b)in case of the insolvency of the buyer, a right of stopping the goods in transit after he has parted with the possession of them;

(c)a right of re-sale as limited by this Act.

(2)Where the property in goods has not passed to the buyer, the unpaid seller has (in addition to his other remedies) a right of withholding delivery similar to and co-extensive with his rights of lien or retention and stoppage in transit where the property has passed to the buyer.