You say that divorce proceedings have begun. That should answer the question above but has a petition been issued ? On what grounds is it said the marriage is irretrievably broken down ?Unreasonable behaviour? Adultery? Being in the same house is not necessarily a bar to pleading two years separation with consent. If the parties aren't cohabiting and are leading separate lives the fact that they happen to be under the same roof is not in itself a bar to it. They are de facto separated, after all, though I agree it's unusual and more associated with millionaires in a mansion, where one lives in one wing and one in another, and not with ordinary people over a period of two years.