s 4 Rights concerning home where one spouse or civil partner has no estate, etc.
(1) This Article applies if— (a) one spouse or civil partner ( “A”) is entitled to occupy a dwelling-house by virtue of— (i) a beneficial estate or a contract; or (ii) any statutory provision 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 Order, 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 Article 11; (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 Article 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 Article 18, as good as if made or done by A . (4) B's occupation by virtue of this Article— (a) is to be treated, for the purposes of the Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, 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 Chapter II of Part II of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1983, as occupation by A as A's only or principal home. (5) If B (a) is entitled under this Article 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 estate in the dwelling-house by virtue of the payment. (6) If B is entitled under this Article to occupy a dwelling-house or part of a dwelling-house by reason of an interest of A under a trust, the provisions of paragraphs (3) and (5) apply in relation to the trustees as they apply in relation to A . (7) This Article 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 Article 11(5) otherwise provides, and (b) only so long as A is entitled as mentioned in paragraph (1) to occupy the dwelling-house, except where provision is made by Article 5 for those rights to be a charge on an estate in the dwelling-house. (9) Without prejudice to any rights which arise by virtue of an equitable estate, a person who has only such an estate is to be treated for the purpose of determining whether he has home rights as not being entitled to occupy the dwelling-house by virtue of that estate; and this Article shall apply accordingly where each of two spouses or civil partners is so entitled.