Cohabitation rights and the common intention constructive trust

This article addresses the contentious subject of property rights for cohabitants in England and Wales, and in the particular the Cohabitation Rights Bill, a private members’ bill starting in the House of Lords which had its second reading on 15 March 2019. Unless and until such legislation is passed, as Lady Hale said in Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17, unmarried cohabitants couples remain governed by the “ordinary law”.