Just a note on a permission to appeal hearing:
Northumberland & Durham Property Trust Ltd v Ouaha [2013] EWCA Civ 291 [Not on Bailii yet, noted in the Garden Court Bulletin]
A Rent Act tenant died in November 2010. The other occupant was his 16 year old son. The son’s mother, Ms Ouaha claimed to have succeeded to the tenancy under Schedule 1 para 1 Rent Act 1977, though she did not live with the tenant and his son. She claimed to be the ‘surviving spouse of the original tenant’
At first instance, her claim was dismissed on the grounds that she and the tenant had not been married, in a sense that would be acknowledged as such under matrimonial legislation. Ms O appealed and the Court of Appeal granted permission on the basis that it was at least arguable that ‘spouse’ had a wider meaning in the Rent Act. Full appeal later in the year.