CA-2024-002756 - [2025] EWCA Civ 1038

Islington let the property to Mr Seales under a secure tenancy on 16 July 2015. He died on 31 March 2021.

He had been in an intimate relationship with Raksha Patel since 2011, although they maintained separate addresses: Mr Seales in London and Ms Patel in Luton. There is no finding that they lived together as if they were husband and wife. Ms Abdelrahman is Ms Patel’s biological daughter. Her evidence was that from about 2011, when she was 13, Mr Seales became what she considered to be her father figure. She moved into the property to live with Mr Seales in 2018, and remained living with him until his death, latterly as his carer. Her evidence was that Mr Seales treated her as his daughter. There was also other evidence that Ms Abdelrahman and Mr Seales had a loving and caring relationship, analogous to that of stepfather and stepdaughter.

Following Mr Seales’ death Ms Abdelrahman applied to Islington to succeed to the tenancy, on the basis that she was Mr Seales’ stepdaughter. Islington refused her application on 17 March 2022 because Mr Seales and Ms Patel had never married or entered into a civil partnership. In their letter a Tenancy Officer with Islington stated:

“You applied for succession as Mr Seales’ stepchild. For the purposes of succession, a stepchild is:

a child born to or legally adopted by your spouse before your marriage whom you have not legally adopted. In view of the fact that Raksha Patel and Raphael Seales never married – you cannot succeed to the tenancy.” (original emphasis)

Islington subsequently served notices to quit on Mr Seales’ personal representatives and the Public Trustee. Following the expiry of the notices Islington began proceedings for possession. They were defended by Ms Abdelrahman on the ground that Islington had misinterpreted their policy and that she was entitled to succeed.

In an impressive extempore judgment HHJ Bloom rejected that defence and made an order for possession.