The legal ruling last week to allow same-sex couples to inherit social housing tenancies was already being applied by a large proportion of housing providers.
In recent years, many housing associations and councils have allowed same-sex partners to take over social housing tenancies, although with no legal requirement for them to do so.

Last week’s Court of Appeal decision in the Mendoza v Ghaidan case gave legal recognition to the practice, removing the possibility of housing associations or councils being forced to change their approach.

Gwyneth Taylor, programme manager at the Local Government Association, said: “Many local authorities have been giving long-standing gay couples joint tenancies for some time – the effect was similar to what will be achieved by this ruling.”

John Bryant, policy officer with the National Housing Federation, said the NHF will issue guidance on same-sex couples after the court’s ruling has been studied more fully.

Bryant.the case “caps the process of equalising the rights of same sex couples. A considerable number of registered social landlords had been following this way of working. In policy terms it was the right thing to do, but legally it wasn’t correct.”

Source

Housing Today