41(1)Amend section 17 (succession to assured periodic tenancy by spouse) as follows.E+W
(2)In subsection (1), after “spouse” (in each place) insert “ or civil partner ”.
(3)For subsection (4) substitute—
“(4)For the purposes of this section—
(a)a person who was living with the tenant as his or her wife or husband shall be treated as the tenant’s spouse, and
(b)a person who was living with the tenant as if they were civil partners shall be treated as the tenant’s civil partner.”
(4)In subsection (5), for the words after “the county court” substitute “ shall for the purposes of this section be treated (according to whether that one of them is of the opposite sex to, or of the same sex as, the tenant) as the tenant’s spouse or the tenant’s civil partner. ”