Other European nationals
This page covers the whole of the UK
Contents:
Who does this page apply to?
The law about the rights of EEA nationals to live, work and claim access to housing, benefits and other services changed on 1 January 2021 when the Brexit transition period ended. The rights described on this page now only apply to you if:
- you are a citizen of an EEA member state other than Ireland, and
- you made an on-time application to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), and either:
- you have been granted EU pre-settled status, or
- you are waiting for a decision about your EUSS application.
If all of these apply and you have one of the rights to reside on this page, it describes your rights to housing and benefits until you get EU settled status or your EUSS application is decided.
Who are 'other European nationals'?
If you this page applies to you (see above), but you are not in work, you may have the right to access housing and benefits if:
- you are a student, or
- you are living here off your own resources (you are 'self-sufficient'), or
- you are a long-term resident who has acquired a permanent right of residence.
If you have worked in the UK but are registered unemployed or are temporarily unable to work due to illness or accident, you might still be treated as an EEA worker. If you are not a worker/self-employed or a student, self-sufficient person or long-term resident, you may have a right to reside if:
- you are an EEA family member, or
- you are responsible for an EEA worker's child.
What documents might you be asked for?
To qualify for housing or benefits you will need to show evidence of:
- your EU pre-settled status – you can do this with either your eVisa by applying for a share code or, provided it has not expired, your biometric residence card, or
- if you applied to the EU Settlement Scheme but you have not yet received a decision, your certificate of application and evidence of your nationality (passport, national residence card).
You will also need to show evidence of your status as a student, as self-sufficient, or as having long-term residence. There is no specific set of documents that do this and your status as student, etc., is simply a matter of fact. If you have acquired the right of permanent residence your residence permit may have been endorsed to show this, but your right to reside is not dependent on you having a permit to prove it.
What are your rights to housing and benefits?
If you have one of the rights to reside on this page:
- you are eligible for universal credit, state pension credit or housing benefit provided you are also habitually resident, and
- you are eligible for a housing allocation or to homelessness assistance from the council/Housing
Executive:
- in Scotland (without further conditions), or
- in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, provided you are also habitually resident.
Are you an EEA student?
You have the right to reside as a student if:
- you are an EEA national
- you are currently studying on a course in the UK
- you have signed a declaration at the beginning of the course that you are able to support yourself without social assistance
- the declaration was true when you signed it and for the foreseeable future, and
- you are registered with a GP/health centre for NHS treatment or otherwise have comprehensive sickness insurance for the UK (see here for advice if you are refused).
However, even if you are an EEA student, you must also fit the general qualification rules for the benefit or service. For example, most students are not eligible for universal credit or housing benefit, and you cannot get help as homeless if you have a home in another country.
Are you a self-sufficient person?
You have a right to reside as a self-sufficient person if:
- you are an EEA national
- you can meet your own needs for accommodation and maintenance without becoming a ‘burden on the UK social assistance system’, and
- you are registered with a GP/health centre for NHS treatment or otherwise have comprehensive sickness insurance for the UK (see here for advice if you are refused).
In most cases, if you apply for homelessness assistance, universal credit, state pension credit or housing benefit you will be told that you are no longer self-sufficient.
However, if you claim housing benefit and your income (typically state and private pensions) is greater than the total of your rent plus the pension credit standard minimum guarantee, you may still be considered as being self-sufficient.
The DWP guidance suggests that if you have lived in the UK for some time and have never claimed before, the fact that you have previously been self-sufficient should be a factor in deciding whether you are an 'unreasonable burden,' as should the length of time you are likely to be claiming. For example, you may be self-sufficient if the source of your funds is temporarily disrupted.
Similarly, with homelessness assistance: this should not be refused if the homelessness has occurred as a real emergency (a fire, for example, or domestic violence). The council may, however, limit its help to providing temporary accommodation and advice about finding your own housing.
You cannot use your earnings from employment to acquire self-sufficient status, but apart from that it does not matter what the source of income is.
Are you a person who has right of permanent residence (EEA long-term resident)?
You have a right of permanent residence if:
- you are an EEA national, and either:
- you have been resident in the UK for a continuous period of five years as a ‘qualified person’ (or five years in which you were a qualified person apart from the first three months of your residence), or
- you are a retired EEA worker/self-employed person (old age or permanent incapacity).
If there are breaks in between two qualifying periods of residence – including absences from the UK – these can sometimes be ignored, see the advisers page for further details. But if your only right to reside is as an EEA family member (i.e. you are relying on the right to reside of an EEA national you accompany), different rules apply as to when you can acquire permanent residence.
Once you have acquired a permanent right of residence it can only be lost if:
- you are absent from the UK for over two years, or
- the Home Office decides that you must be deported because you are a serious threat to public policy or public security (this may happen if you have been convicted of a serious offence and there is reason to believe you will reoffend).
Who is a ‘qualified person’?
You are a ‘qualified person’ if you are an EEA national during any period in which you are:
- a self-employed person, or
- a worker, or
- a person who has retained their worker/self-employed status, or
- a jobseeker, or
- a student, or
- a self-sufficient person.
