British and Irish citizens
Contents:
Are you a British or Irish Citizen?
If you are a British citizen you are free from all immigration controls and have the right to live and work in the UK without any restrictions. This also means you have a ‘right to reside’.
Irish citizens (unlike other foreign nationals) enjoy a unique status in UK law and do not require leave to enter or remain in the UK even though the UK has left the EU. (This also means for housing and benefit purposes you are not counted as being ‘subject to immigration control’ and have a ‘right to reside’.)
Are you the family member of a British or Irish citizen?
Different rules apply regarding your rights to housing and/or benefits if you are the family member of a British or Irish citizen.
If you are the partner or child of a British or Irish citizen and you have leave without access to public funds, you should get advice or see our adviser pages for details about what happens if:
Are you another British national or Commonwealth citizen?
If you have a form of British nationality which is not British citizenship (e.g. if you are from a UK overseas territory) your rights to housing and benefits are the same as any other non-European foreign national and depend on whether you have been granted indefinite leave or limited leave to be in the UK. If you are a British National (Overseas) from Hong Kong you can apply to have your 'no public funds' condition lifted if you are destitute. If your application is successful you can apply for housing, help if you are homeless and for universal credit or housing benefit to help pay your rent.
If you are a Commonwealth citizen with a ‘right of abode’ your rights to housing and benefits are the same as a British citizen.
How does this affect your rights to housing and benefits?
If you are a British or Irish citizen you can apply for accommodation from a private landlord or direct from a housing association. But in England, the landlord/housing association must ask to see documents that prove your status. This is not usually a problem if you have a British or Irish passport (current or expired). Otherwise, your birth certificate plus a letter from a local authority or government department that has been issued in the last three months is usually sufficient.
You can also apply to a private landlord or direct to a housing association if you are a Commonwealth citizen with the right of abode. You can prove your status with your passport (current or expired) if it has been endorsed to say you are free from immigration control or by another document issued by the Home Office that says this (such as a biometric residence permit). If you do not have any of these but you are a long-term resident you can find out how to get help proving your status here.
In England and Wales, if you are applying to the local authority for housing or help if you are homeless or if you are claiming universal credit, state pension credit or housing benefit you must show that:
- you have a legal right to live in the UK; and
- you are habitually resident in the British Isles or the Republic of Ireland or you are exempt from this requirement.
If you are a British or Irish citizen who has always lived in the UK or Ireland, then you meet these conditions – and your right to live in the UK can be shown in same way as for a private landlord in England. But the habitual residence condition may disqualify you from housing or benefits if you have lived abroad and are returning to the UK, or if you are entering the UK for the first time (for example, if you acquired your citizenship through your parents).
How do you meet the habitual residence test if you are British or Irish?
If you are returning to the UK after having lived abroad, you can satisfy the habitual residence test and qualify for housing and/or benefits in the following ways:
- Through actual habitual residence. The DWP determine whether you are habitually resident according to the facts in your case. It is not enough to show you are present in the UK. You must show that you have arrived with the intent to settle and that you have done so for an appreciable period (usually between one and three months).
- You are an Irish citizen who has EU pre-settled status. You are exempt from the test if you qualify as an EEA worker or self-employed person.
- You have been deported from another country.
- You were resident in Israel, Palestine or Lebanon before 7 October 2023 and left due to the escalating violence.
- You were resident in Sudan before 15 April 2023 and left due to the escalating violence.
- You were resident in Ukraine before 1 January 2022 and left due to the Russian invasion.
- You left Afghanistan on or after 15 August 2021 due to the collapse of the Afghan government.
- For HB only, if you receive state pension credit, or income-related employment and support allowance.
If you have not been living in the UK/Ireland for the past three months you are likely to be disqualified from homelessness assistance, but this should not affect your claim for universal credit and council tax rebate provided you can show you are actually habitually resident.
