The law on housing eligibility

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This page covers the whole of the UK

The law on housing eligibility

On this page, ‘housing authority’ or ‘authority’ means the relevant local authority in Great Britain, or in Northern Ireland, the Housing Executive.

‘Housing allocation’ means an offer of housing by the housing authority of its own accommodation or a nomination made by it for accommodation owned by a registered housing association (registered provider/registered social landlord).

‘Homelessness assistance’ means any duty owed by the authority to provide housing to a person who is homeless or to help prevent them from becoming homeless if they are threatened with homelessness.

The law about who is excluded from a housing allocation

The eligibility criteria for allocations only apply to the applicant. A tenancy cannot be offered to a non-eligible applicant, and an ineligible person cannot be a joint tenant either. A person is not eligible for an allocation by the authority if:

• s/he is ‘subject to immigration control’ – unless s/he is in a class re-included by regulations (an eligible class), or
• in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, s/he is not subject to immigration control but is ‘a person from abroad’ (as defined by regulations), or
• in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in the case of a joint application by two or more persons, if one of them is excluded for either of the reasons above.

These exclusions do not apply to a person who is already a tenant/contract holder of the housing authority (in other words an existing tenant can apply for a transfer).

How other household members affect the applicant’s priority for housing

Provided that the applicant is eligible, the other household members are considered when determining the applicant’s priority as follows:

• if the applicant would not be homeless or threatened with homelessness without the presence of a ‘restricted person’, no ‘reasonable preference’ can be given on that basis, but
• the restricted person provisions do not apply to the authority’s duties to children and the other statutory reasonable preference categories so, it must give a preference to applicants with children or to households living in overcrowded conditions, irrespective of whether those children or other household members are eligible or not (Kimvono v Tower Hamlets).

However, the authority is entitled to interpret ‘household’ according to its everyday normal usage (Ariemuguvbe v Islington) and in doing so they can consider the ages of the children and their immigration status. The Kimvono case concerned a 'nuclear' family, parent and minor children, whereas in Ariemuguvbe the authority refused to consider five of the applicant’s children who were all adults (aged 22 to 31) and had leave without access to public funds.

Other eligibility rules in allocation schemes

Across Great Britain each authority must comply with the eligibility rules set out above and in each country comply with the national legislation about who must be given a reasonable preference but otherwise it can set its own rules about who has priority for housing, provided those rules are based on housing need. In Northern Ireland, these national and local requirements are set out in the Executive’s scheme rules.

Local residency and other conditions in England and Northern Ireland

In England, many authorities set further qualification conditions, typically a residency requirement (e.g. the length of time a person has lived in the area) or a local connection test. But a local connection test cannot be applied to anyone who needs to move because of domestic abuse or who is a young care leaver.

In Northern Ireland, under the Executive’s scheme rules the applicant must have a ‘connection with Northern Ireland’ to be eligible. The applicant meets this requirement if:

• s/he or a member of their household is, or in the past was, of their own choice, ordinarily resident, habitually resident or normally resident there
• s/he or a member of their household is employed there (or is making a genuine attempt to find employment), or
• s/he or a member of their household has a substantial connection because of other circumstances.

Ordinary residence means a person's 'abode in a particular place or country which he has adopted voluntarily and for settled purposes as part of the regular order of his life for the time being' (Shah v Barnet). For further information about how ordinary residence is determined see here.

The law about who is excluded from homelessness assistance

A person is not eligible for homelessness assistance if:

• s/he is ‘subject to immigration control’ – unless s/he is in a class re-included by regulations, or
• in England, Wales and Northern Ireland s/he is not subject to immigration control but is ‘a person from abroad’ (as defined by regulations).

These exclusions apply to all applicants – but special rules apply if the applicant is eligible but a member of their household is not: see applications by mixed families.

Immigration control eligible classes

A person who is subject to immigration control is not excluded from housing or homelessness assistance if they are in an eligible class as defined by regulations. Each eligible allocations and homelessness class is designated by a letter (e.g. Class A, Class B, etc.). A person is in an eligible class if s/he:

• has refugee status

Allocations and homelessness: UK, Class A

• has humanitarian protection

Allocations and homelessness: England and Wales, Class D; Scotland & Northern Ireland, Class BA

• has leave outside the immigration rules (LOTR) with access to public funds

Allocations and homelessness: UK, Class B

• has limited leave to remain under the Appendix in the immigration rules relating to temporary permission to stay (TPS) as a victim/survivor of human trafficking or slavery. (Before 30 January 2023, victims/survivors were given leave outside the rules (LOTR)).

• is an unaccompanied child seeking asylum (or his/her dependant) stranded in Europe, granted leave under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 and who is habitually resident (a ‘Dubs’ child’).

• has ‘Calais leave’ (i.e. arrived to join his/her family in the UK after being cleared from the Calais camps in 2016-17) and who is habitually resident.

• has been granted limited leave as a stateless person and who is habitually resident.

• has indefinite leave to remain (settled status, including EU settled status) and who is habitually resident, unless s/he is a sponsored immigrant:
• who has been resident the UK for less than five years, or
• whose sponsor (or if s/he has more than one sponsor, at least one of them) is still alive.

Allocations and homelessness: UK, Class C

• is re-entering the UK as the spouse or former spouse of a British citizen or person of settled status after being deliberately abandoned by them overseas and who has been given leave to re-enter on that basis (‘transnational marriage abandonment’)

• is the family member of a ‘relevant person of Northern Ireland’ who has been granted EU pre-settled status, provided that the ‘person of Northern Ireland’ they accompany is an EEA worker (including a retained worker), or self-employed person (or would be but for the fact s/he is not an EEA national). This Class does not apply in Wales.

• was given limited leave without access to public funds but has successfully applied to have that condition lifted other than a person from Hong Kong or a person who has been given leave based on their family life (see below).

• has been granted limited leave to enter or remain with access to public funds under one of the following provisions of the immigration rules:
• appendix FM – (a person who has established the right to family life due to their long residence (e.g. if s/he is the family member of a British or settled person or of a child who has lived in the UK for seven years)
• paragraph 276BE (1) – as the dependant of an eligible Afghan citizen (see below)
• paragraph 276DG – (a person who would have been granted indefinite leave but for fact that they failed English/Life in the UK tests or because of minor criminal offences).

• is from Hong Kong who has limited leave as a British National (Overseas) who has applied for, and been granted access to public funds and who is habitually resident.

• is from Afghanistan and:
• who was previously employed by the British armed forces and who has been granted leave under the immigration rules by virtue of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Locally Employed Staff ex-gratia scheme (ALES) or
• who has been granted leave outside the immigration rules under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) unless that leave has a ‘no public funds’ condition or was given upon an undertaking by a sponsor (unless their sponsor(s) have died).

• was residing in Ukraine before 1 January 2022, left due to the Russian invasion and has (any kind of) leave with access to public funds. But in Wales the leave must have been granted under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or the Ukraine Family Scheme.

• was granted leave with access to public funds under the immigration rules Appendix Ukraine Scheme where the application was made from within the UK – this includes the Ukraine Extension Scheme and the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme.

• was residing in Sudan before 15 April 2023, left due to the escalating violence and has been granted leave without a sponsor and with access to public funds.

• was residing in Israel, Palestine, Lebanon or the occupied territories immediately before 7 October 2023, left in connection with the Hamas terror attack or the violence that followed and who has been granted leave without a sponsor and with access to public funds.

• was living in a country or territory and left it when the UK government advised British nationals to leave or arranged for their evacuation and is a person who:
• has leave with access to public funds
• is not a sponsored immigrant who has been resident for less than five years or whose sponsor (or if s/he has more than one sponsor, at least one of them) is still alive, and
• who made their application for housing/homelessness assistance within six months of the date when the government advised British nationals to leave or the first day of the evacuation, whichever is the later.

From 23 June 2025, this applies to anyone who applies to the housing authority on or before 22 December 2025 who is from Israel or the Palestinian Occupied Territories or, except in Wales, from 27 March 2025 anyone who applies to the housing authority on or before 26 September 2025 who is from South Sudan (see explanatory memo to SI 2025/891).

Who satisfies the immigration control test and is eligible

The law about immigration control (see the main (UKVI) definition and the housing definition) means a person is eligible for a housing or homelessness assistance from the housing authority if s/he:

• is a British or Irish citizen
• is a Commonwealth citizen with the right of abode
• is a person who falls under the EU transitional rules, or
• is a person who falls within a prescribed class in an order made by the Secretary of State (follow the link for details of each class).

In each case they must also be habitually resident in the common travel area. A person is usually considered as habitually resident after three-months continuous residence but certain persons are exempt from this requirement (mainly those who have arrived from countries in conflict/violence e.g. Ukraine, Israel/Palestine) or from a country which the UK government advised British citizens to leave.

A person who falls under the EU transitional rules must also have a right to reside which, except in Scotland, must be other than as a jobseeker or a Zambrano carer. A right to reside means one of the EU free movement rights as a worker, a self-employed person, an EEA family member or other EEA national (e.g. as a student).

Homelessness applications by 'mixed' families

For homelessness there are two different types of application for families with ‘mixed’ eligibility that depend on the applicant’s status:

• the applicant is subject to immigration control but is eligible because they fall within an eligible class, or
• the applicant is not subject to immigration control (i.e. usually a British citizen) but who would not be considered homeless or in priority need but for the presence of a household member who is a ‘restricted person’. This type of application is called a ‘restricted case’.

Applicant is subject to immigration control

If the applicant is eligible because they fall within an eligible class but a member of their household is not eligible, then that ineligible member cannot be considered by the authority when it decides whether the applicant is homeless or has a priority need.

Typically, this arises where the applicant is eligible, but their child/children are not, so they do not have a priority need because the children are not considered.

Applicant is not subject to immigration control (restricted cases)

If the applicant is not subject to immigration control but would not be considered homeless or in priority need but for the presence of a household member who is a ‘restricted person’, then the applicant is entitled only to limited housing assistance once any interim duty has come to an end.

An example would be a British woman who is married to an overseas student and lives with him and his nine-year old son (her stepson).

There is a special procedure for dealing with these applications, as follows.

If the applicant is only in priority need or homeless because of a restricted person in his/her household, then s/he is offered emergency and interim accommodation.

The housing authority should seek, so far as practicable, to bring their duty towards the applicant to an end by offering private rented accommodation (but it is not compelled to do this, and it can offer social housing provided it is in line with its published allocations policy).

The housing authority must serve a notice on the applicant explaining their decision, which must include the following information:

• the applicant is only considered as homeless/in priority need due to a restricted person
• the name of the restricted person
• the reason why the named person is a restricted person, and
• the offer of private accommodation brings its duties towards the applicant to an end.

If the applicant has applied to join the authority’s housing waiting list, s/he will not attract a reasonable preference for being homeless but should attract a reasonable preference for other reasons: see the rules for allocations in mixed households for further details.

Who is a restricted person

A ‘restricted person’ is a person who:

• is not eligible, and
• requires leaves to be in UK, and
• either:
• does not have leave (i.e. is an illegal entrant or an overstayer), or
• has leave without access to public funds.

Why is the law different in Scotland

The power to make laws about immigration control is reserved to the UK Parliament. Otherwise, the power to make laws about housing is mostly devolved to the national parliaments.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, anyone who is not subject to immigration control but who is a ‘person from abroad’ (as defined by regulations) is ineligible for a housing allocation or homelessness assistance. In each country national regulations define a ‘person from abroad’ as being a person who is not habitually resident.

No equivalent law has been enacted by the Scottish Parliament so there is no requirement to be habitually resident except where it is part of an eligible immigration class.