Northumberland and Durham Property Trust Limited v Latisha Ouaha

The Court of Appeal decided a test case about the meaning of “the surviving spouse” for the purposes of succession to a statutory tenancy under paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 1 to the Rent Act 1977.  The Appellant had argued that the phrase was sufficiently broad to include a person who had gone through a form of Islamic marriage ceremony in England, even though this had not complied with the requirements of the Marriage Acts and had not resulted in a valid marriage under English law.  The Court of Appeal rejected this argument, holding that the natural meaning of “spouse” was a party to a lawful marriage, and that the Human Rights Act did not compel a different result.

Monica Carss-Frisk QC of Blackstone Chambers appeared for the Respondent.