Civil partner tenants and safeguarding occupancy rights
There are a number of steps that non-entitled partner or joint tenant can take to safeguard her/his occupancy rights.
Sole tenant
If there is a sole tenant, the non-entitled civil partner can take steps in order to secure or protect her/his occupancy rights in the family home.
S/he can:
pay rent due [1]
ensure that the landlord carries out any obligations, for example, repairs [2]
carry out essential repairs [3]
if authorised by the court, carry out improvements to the home [4]
take any other steps that the tenant may take to protect her/his occupancy rights [5]
apply to the court for an order declaring/enforcing his/her occupancy rights in certain circumstances. [6]
These steps can be taken without the entitled partner's consent. [7]
Joint tenants
Where there are joint tenants, either can apply to the court for an order allowing her/him to carry out non-essential repairs or improvements. The other partner's consent is not required. [8]
Sole and/or joint tenants
Either partner can go to court to seek an order apportioning certain expenditure in the family home, for example the rent or payment for essential repairs. This means that the non-entitled partner could pay the rent to ensure that the family were not evicted and then seek an order regulating payments from the entitled partner. When deciding how to divide the expenditure the court will take account of each civil partner's respective financial resources. [9]
Last updated: 6 August 2020