Civil partner tenants and the law on relationship breakdown

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 makes provision for the resolution of disputes between civil partners. The Act covers all tenants regardless of their type of tenancy, whether Scottish secure, assured, regulated and common law:

• It gives civil partners of sole tenants the right to occupy the family home on registration of the civil partnership.

• It regulates how civil partners live in the family home.

• It requires the sole tenant to obtain the consent of her/his civil partner to certain transactions that affect occupancy rights.

• It can be used to exclude the tenant or tenant's civil partner from the family home, even if s/he is a joint tenant.

• It can be used to transfer the tenancy from the tenant to the tenant's civil partner or from a joint to a sole tenancy.

The rights of sole or joint tenants to live in the family home are also determined by housing legislation. These laws can determine

• the right to occupy the home

• the transfer of tenancies in some instances

• the ability to assign the tenancy

• how tenancies are terminated and give protection against eviction.

If there are any issues in relation to abuse or harassment, there are other pieces of legislation that may also be of use, regardless of the relationship between the parties involved. For further information, please see the page on housing and domestic abuse.

• Housing and domestic abuse