A promise made without anything given in return is, outside a deed, no contract at all — which is why so many disputes turn on whether something amounted to consideration. This chapter starts with what consideration is and the role it plays in forming a simple contract, then the rule that it must be sufficient but need not be adequate, and the requirement that it move from the promisee, including how that connects to privity and the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. It then sorts executory, executed and past consideration, before working through the problem cases: forbearance to sue, performance of existing public, contractual and third-party duties, the practical benefit exception and its limits, and the part payment of debts. Finally, it covers promissory estoppel — its requirements, its use as a shield rather than a sword, and when its effect is suspensory rather than extinctive.
