[2004] UKHL 30, 21 June 2004. Appeal by landlord (G) against CA's decision ([2001] EWCA Civ 1553, Abs66275) that tenant (G-M) was entitled to succeed to the tenancy of a flat as a statutory tenant under the Rent Act 1977 Sched 1 para 2. G-M had been living in the flat in a stable same-sex relationship with the original tenant until the latter's death in January 2001. CA overturned the lower court's decision that G-M could not succeed to the tenancy of the flat as the surviving spouse of the original tenant within the meaning of the 1977 Act Sched 1 para 2 as that provision excluded persons in a same-sex relationship. "Held": A survivor of a same-sex couple cannot not become a statutory tenant by succession within para 2(2) of the 1977 Act following "Fitzpatrick v Sterling House Association Ltd" (HL, Abs61717) a decision made before the Human Rights Act 1988 came into force. The difference in treatment on grounds of sexual orientation flowing from the "Fitzpatrick " interpretation infringed the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Arts 8 and 14. The court made para 2 compliant with Convention rights by reading it as covering same-sex couples living together and therefore the survivor of such a couple should be treated as the surviving spouse of the original tenant. Judgment is available at www.parliament.uk.