If you are a housing adviser please visit this section for more information...

Housing benefit is a cash social security benefit to help people who have low incomes pay their rent. To qualify for housing benefit the person who makes the claim must be eligible. The law defines who is eligible, in terms of immigration status and habitual residence. The law is different for people from within the European Economic Area and the UK and those from outside.

All householders (whether owners or tenants) pay council tax to their local councils, based on the property value. The rules about who is eligible to get help towards paying their council tax through CTB are identical to the rules for HB.

Couples and claims for housing benefit and council tax benefit

The rules below only affect claims by couples if both members are ineligible (e.g. if both members are subject to immigration control). If one member is eligible and the other is excluded the eligible member should make the claim.

The requirement for a national insurance number

Normally in order to qualify for housing benefit the claimant and their partner must have been allocated a national insurance number (NINO) or have applied for one. However, this requirement does not apply in the case of couples where one member is entitled and the other is ineligible for HB because they require leave to enter the UK but do not have it (for example, if their leave expired and there is no application pending). Some claim forms and leaflets are still printed as if this is a requirement: this is simply wrong.

A NINO is not required in respect of any dependent child or young person included in the claim.

EEA nationals

• All EEA nationals who are in self-employment in the UK are entitled.
• EEA workers are eligible but special rules apply to Bulgarians and Romanians .
• Certain long-term residents who have lived in the UK for five years and who have acquired a permanent right of residence are entitled.
• Certain people who have worked in the UK but have since retired are entitled.
• Certain former EEA workers who are temporarily unable to work (e.g. unemployed or off sick) are entitled but special rules apply to Bulgarians and Romanians .
• EEA nationals who have entered the UK looking for work and who have registered as a jobseeker will be entitled but only if they are entitled to income-based jobseeker's allowance.
• EEA nationals who are students or self-sufficient may also be eligible in some circumstances but will have to pass the habitual residence test.
• Family members of eligible EEA nationals will usually be eligible: here is some further information about EEA family members.
• All other EEA nationals are only entitled to benefit if they have a right to reside and are habitually resident. Here is some more information about other EEA nationals that have a right to reside and the law on housing benefit.

People from outside the EEA

The general rule: exclusion from housing benefit for people subject to immigration control

Citizens of countries from outside the EEA are subject to immigration control. The general rule for housing benefit is that a person who is subject to immigration control will be not entitled if:

• they do not have leave (this includes asylum seekers whose claim for asylum has not yet been determined)
• they have leave which is subject to a condition that they have no recourse to public funds
• they have leave which has been granted as a result of a maintenance undertaking (or sponsorship agreement).

Most people granted limited leave (e.g. work permit holders) will have a 'no recourse to public funds' condition attached. In many cases a person who has been granted indefinite leave will also be the subject of a maintenance undertaking and so will be excluded from benefit.

Effect of the general rule on refugees, and others granted leave for humanitarian or exceptional reasons

Refugees, people granted humanitarian protection, discretionary leave or exceptional leave will not normally be excluded by the general rule because the terms of their leave will normally allow recourse to public funds. Provided their leave does not contain a public funds restriction, they will be entitled to HB/CTB because they are exempt from the requirement to be habitually resident.

The same also is true for:

• Montserrat evacuees who left the territory due to the volcanic eruption
• Zimbabwe nationals offered settlement by UKBA during the period 28th February 2009 - 17th March 2011.

Exceptions to the general rule

For housing benefit purposes certain categories of claimant are exempt from the general rule about immigration control. People who fall within these exempt groups are not excluded from benefit even if the terms of their leave prohibit recourse to public funds: although certain other rules may exclude them from entitlement (such as the requirement to be habitually resident).

A person otherwise excluded by the general rule will be entitled to housing benefit if they are:

• A national of Croatia, Macedonia or Turkey who has any form of leave provided that they are also habitually resident.
• Self-supporting but their source of funds has been temporarily disrupted. Provided that there is a reasonable expectation that their funds will resume, they are entitled to HB/CTB for up to six weeks. If the disruption to funds has already exceeded the six week limit when the claim is made there will be no entitlement.
• A person who is the subject of a maintenance undertaking who has lived in the UK for five years.
• A person who is the subject of a maintenance undertaking whose sponsor (or all of their sponsors if there was more than one) has since died provided that they are habitually resident (although in practice the authority will normally accept that they are).

More information on these categories is available here.

All other cases: people from outside the EEA

All other cases not covered by the general rule or the exceptions above where that person has leave (which is not subject to a maintenance undertaking or public funds restriction) will be eligible provided that they are also habitually resident.

Are there any particular problems?

Migrants often face delays whilst their claim is processed. Sometimes the authority will postpone making a decision until their NINO has been allocated (for example following the grant of refugee status). This is wrong: the claim can be processed once the application for a NINO has been made, provided that the NINO application includes the information and evidence needed to process it.