30 Rights concerning [home where one spouse or civil partner] has no estate, etc.E+W
(1)This section applies if—
(a)one spouse [ or civil partner (“A”)] is entitled to occupy a dwelling-house by virtue of—
(i)a beneficial estate or interest or contract; or
(ii)any enactment giving [A] the right to remain in occupation; and
(b)the other spouse [ or civil partner (“B”)] is not so entitled.
(2)Subject to the provisions of this Part, [B] has the following rights ([“home rights”])—
(a)if in occupation, a right not to be evicted or excluded from the dwelling-house or any part of it by [A] except with the leave of the court given by an order under section 33;
(b)if not in occupation, a right with the leave of the court so given to enter into and occupy the dwelling-house.
(3)If [B] is entitled under this section to occupy a dwelling-house or any part of a dwelling-house, any payment or tender made or other thing done by [B] in or towards satisfaction of any liability of [A] in respect of rent, mortgage payments or other outgoings affecting the dwelling-house is, whether or not it is made or done in pursuance of an order under section 40, as good as if made or done by [A].
(4)[B's] occupation by virtue of this section—
(a)is to be treated, for the purposes of the Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976 and the Rent Act 1977 (other than Part V and sections 103 to 106 of that Act), as occupation [by A as A's] residence, and
(b)if [B occupies the dwelling-house as B's] only or principal home, is to be treated, for the purposes of the Housing Act 1985 [, Part I of the Housing Act 1988 [, Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the Housing Act 1996 [, ]the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013]] [and the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (anaw 1)], as occupation [by A as A's] only or principal home.
(5)If [B])—
(a)is entitled under this section to occupy a dwelling-house or any part of a dwelling-house, and
(b)makes any payment in or towards satisfaction of any liability of [A] in respect of mortgage payments affecting the dwelling-house,
the person to whom the payment is made may treat it as having been made by [A], but the fact that that person has treated any such payment as having been so made does not affect any claim of [B against A] to an interest in the dwelling-house by virtue of the payment.
(6)If [B] is entitled under this section to occupy a dwelling-house or part of a dwelling-house by reason of an interest of [A] under a trust, all the provisions of subsections (3) to (5) apply in relation to the trustees as they apply in relation to [A].
(7)This section does not apply to a dwelling-house [ which—
(a)in the case of spouses, has at no time been, and was at no time intended by them to be, a matrimonial home of theirs; and
(b)in the case of civil partners, has at no time been, and was at no time intended by them to be, a civil partnership home of theirs.]
(8)[B’s home rights] continue—
(a)only so long as the marriage [or civil partnership] subsists, except to the extent that an order under section 33(5) otherwise provides; and
(b)only so long as [A] is entitled as mentioned in subsection (1) to occupy the dwelling-house, except where provision is made by section 31 for those rights to be a charge on an estate or interest in the dwelling-house.
(9)It is hereby declared that [a person]—
(a)who has an equitable interest in a dwelling-house or in its proceeds of sale, but
(b)is not [a person] in whom there is vested (whether solely or as joint tenant) a legal estate in fee simple or a legal term of years absolute in the dwelling-house,
is to be treated, only for the purpose of determining whether he has [home rights], as not being entitled to occupy the dwelling-house by virtue of that interest.
Textual Amendments
Marginal Citations