Advising British family members

This page is for housing advisers. If you are a new arrival please click here for information more relevant to you.

This page covers the whole of the UK

Who are 'British family members'?

This page is about the rights of family members of British citizens who:

• have experienced domestic abuse, or
• who are non-EEA nationals who have EU pre-settled status.

In any other case if the family member is not British or Irish their rights to housing and benefits follow the rules for mixed eligibility households as follows:

• housing allocations
• homelessness assistance
• benefits (universal credit, state pension credit, housing benefit).

Partners of British citizens surviving domestic abuse

The partner of a British citizen or person with settled status who has limited leave but whose relationship has broken down due to domestic abuse can apply for leave outside the immigration rules (LOTR). This form of LOTR is known as the destitution domestic abuse concession.

If granted, it allows the holder to claim universal credit (UC), state pension credit (SPC) or housing benefit (HB) for up to three months while they make their application to settle in the UK. But before applying the survivor should get immigration advice from an IAA registered adviser. Being granted the three-month concession does not guarantee that their application to settle will be successful.

Returning spouses abandoned overseas

The spouse or former spouse of a British citizen or person with settled status who was deliberately abandoned overseas can be given leave under the Immigration Rules on that basis. This form of abuse is known as ‘transnational marriage abandonment’ (TMA). A person who is given leave to re-enter on this basis is eligible for housing, homelessness assistance and benefits immediately on their arrival because their previous residence was not relinquished voluntarily.

See here for eligible classes and legislative details.

British family members entitled to apply to the EU settlement scheme

Certain family members of British or Irish citizens who were not a citizen of an EEA member state could apply to the EU Settlement Scheme as follows:

• the carer of a British child or a dependant adult relative
• the family members of a British citizen who had exercised their right to live or work in another EEA member state before the UK left the EU, or
• the family members of a person who was born in Northern Ireland.

(Immigration Rules, Appendix EU)

These rights are described in further detail below.

Carers of a British child or British dependant adult (‘Zambrano’ carers)

A person is a Zambrano carer if:

• s/he is a national of a non-EEA state, and
• who on or before 31 December 2020, was the sole carer of a British child or of a British dependant adult who is their direct relative (e.g. parent/grandparent), and
• who was required to be present to enable that child/dependant adult to continue to reside in the UK (or other EEA member state).

A Zambrano carer was entitled to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme provided they made their application on time.

A Zambrano carer who has EU settled status has the same right to housing and benefits as a British citizen. But a Zambrano carer with EU pre-settled status:

• is not eligible for universal credit, state pension credit or housing benefit, and
• except in Scotland, is not eligible for housing and homelessness assistance.

See the page on advising Zambrano carers for more information.

Family members of British citizens living in a member state before Brexit

A person who was the family member of a British citizen residing in another member state before 1 February 2020 (when the UK left the EU) had the right to reside in the UK as the British citizen’s family member.

These rights where known as 'Surinder Singh' rights after the case that established them. A family member with these rights could apply to the EU Settlement Scheme provided certain other conditions were met. For further details the page on Surinder Singh rights.

Family members of a person from Northern Ireland

A ‘family member’ of ‘a relevant person of Northern Ireland’ could apply to the EU Settlement Scheme for EU settled status or pre-settled status. A ‘relevant person of Northern Ireland’ is a person who:

• is a British citizen or Irish citizen, and
• was born in Northern Ireland, and
• at the time of their birth at least one of their parents was a British citizen, an Irish citizen or a person with UK settled status.

A family member is a person who:

• is a national of a non-EEA state, and
• is related to a relevant person of Northern Ireland in one of the following ways:
  • his/her spouse/civil partner, or
  • a dependent direct relative (child, grandchild, parent, grandparent), or
  • a dependent direct relative of his or her spouse/civil partner.

‘Dependent’ means financially dependent or a person aged under 21.

A family member with EU settled status is eligible for housing and benefits provided s/he is habitually resident.

A family member with EU pre-settled status is eligible for housing and benefits as follows:

• in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, for housing or homelessness assistance if the person from Northern Ireland they accompany is a worker, or a self-employed person (or would be if the person from Northern Ireland was an EEA national) (Explanatory Memo to SI 2020/667, para 6.6), and
• in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, for universal credit, state pension credit or housing benefit if
  • the person from Northern Ireland they accompany is (or would be if they were an EEA national) a worker, self-employed person, self-sufficient person, student, or long-term resident, or
  • the family member is a person who has a retained right of residence (e.g. divorced, widowed).

(Explanatory Memo to SI 2020/683, para 6.3)

The purpose of these rules is to ensure that non-EEA family members of a person from Northern Ireland are in broadly the same position as the non-EEA family members of an Irish citizen (Irish citizens residing in the UK could apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

The relevant law can be found on the page on housing eligibility law, in the section on eligible classes, and below.