Gay partners and succession

Mr Roberts was granted an assured tenancy of a flat by Southern Housing Group in 1996. In 2001, he formed a relationship with Mr Nutting who moved in with him. Their relationship was volatile and followed a repeat cycle of mutual abuse. At one point, Roberts got a court order barring Nutting from his home. Nutting was imprisoned for breach of it, but returned to live with Roberts on release.

In January 2003, Roberts applied for a transfer to another flat on the basis that he would live alone. After he had moved in, Nutting moved in with him. Roberts died in March 2003.

Nutting was legally entitled to succeed to the tenancy if he had lived with Roberts as if they were “husband and wife”. Southern did not accept that this was the case. A judge granted Southern a possession order and Nutting appealed, claiming he had succeeded to the tenancy.

A High Court judge dismissed the appeal. Nutting had not proved the requisite degree of permanence in the relationship. The judge said: “Without a lifetime commitment at least at some point in the relationship, there is no sufficient similarity to marriage.” This commitment must be to a relationship that is “openly and unequivocally displayed to the outside world”. The men’s relationship had not had those characteristics.