Advising other European nationals

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

This page looks at housing problems faced by other EEA nationals. These may be people who are in the UK as students or self-sufficient people or with a permanent right to reside or people who seem to have no rights to reside at all.

Who does this page apply to?

This page gives further details about when an EEA national with EU pre-settled status:

• has a right to reside as a student, or
• has a right to reside as a self-sufficient person, or
• has a right to reside as a long-term resident.

It looks at the problems these EEA nationals often face establishing their status. If none of the rights on this page or as an EEA family member apply, a person with EU pre-settled status may still be eligible for benefits if they are destitute.

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. See the equivalent new arrivals page for further details about who this page applies to and how these rights determine eligibility for housing and benefits.

Problems with students

The requirement for students is that the person:

• be enrolled at a course of study, and
• has comprehensive sickness insurance, and
• has signed a declaration that s/he is able to meet their living costs while studying and that declaration is true at the time of signing.

Problems occur when the student is no longer able to support him/herself. As long as the declaration was true at the time of signing and the student continues to study s/he continues to be regarded as a student, with the right to reside as such. A student with the right to reside must also be habitually resident to be eligible for benefits and except in Scotland, housing. This can be a problem for students on short courses or who only stay temporarily in the UK to study. Other problems occur with access to UC/HB (as for all students) and with whether a student (who may have a home elsewhere in Europe) is homeless.

What is comprehensive sickness insurance?

A person meets the requirement for comprehensive sickness insurance if:

• s/he has registered with a GP/health centre for NHS treatment — this was confirmed in VI v Commissioners for HMRC [2021] EUECJ C-247/20 (overturning Ahmad v Home Secretary [2014] EWCA Civ 988); the case is binding on the UK despite Brexit
• s/he has a European Health Insurance Card issued in his/her home country together with a letter (called a statement of intent) confirming that s/he does not intend to stay in the UK permanently
• s/he has private health insurance (W (China) v SSHD [2006] EWCA Civ 1494), or
• s/he is ‘entitled to reimbursement of [his/her] NHS healthcare costs from another Member State' (ADM chapter C1 para C1730). This is usually the case if s/he receives a pension or invalidity benefit from them see: SG v Tameside MBC [2010] UKUT 243 (AAC).

If a person is unsure about his/her pension rights in the UK or their home state the DWP is responsible for both: for more information, see Europa (Your Europe) or contact the AIRE centre.

Problems with self-sufficient people

EU nationals who are self-supporting have the right to reside in the UK. A person is self-sufficient if s/he has if s/he has comprehensive sickness insurance and sufficient resources not to become a ‘burden on the social assistance system’.

An application for an allocation of housing does not imply an inability to support oneself and should not cause any problems. An application as homeless, however, might indicate a loss of self-sufficiency in some circumstances (inability to pay rent or find a deposit if accommodation is lost) but not in others (fire, domestic violence, illegal eviction). In these latter circumstances, homelessness assistance should not be refused.

Who is a burden on social assistance?

A person who has limited resources but who is managing without being a burden on UK social assistance is likely to be considered ‘self-sufficient’. And it must be accepted that a person has sufficient resources if his/her income is above the ‘maximum level’ that would qualify him/her for social assistance. Maximum level means that person's UC standard allowance (or state pension credit standard minimum guarantee) plus any other UC extra amounts including housing costs s/he qualifies for.

Even if a person has an income below the social assistance level the decision-maker may conclude that, after considering the personal circumstances of the person concerned, their resources should nevertheless be regarded as being sufficient. The DWP gives further guidance on when this may apply (ADM, chapter C1(pdf), para C1729; DMG Vol 2, chapter 7 para 073245; HBGM part C, chapter C4, paras C4.122-123). An example might be if the claimant experiences a temporary disruption of funds.

A person who becomes a couple with a British citizen or a person with EU settled status on legacy benefits may still be self-sufficient when s/he jointly claims universal credit. This can arise in situations where their entitlement to legacy benefits as a couple is no greater (or in some cases lower) than the award their British/settled status partner received as a single person (e.g. loss of a severe disability premium) (ADM Memo 10/25 (pdf)). The DWP accepts that this could also apply in a similar way to claims for state pension credit (DMG Memo 11/25 (pdf)).

The source of funds

The source of funds does not matter (see (1), (2) in 'Relevant law' below), and it need not be solely their own: for example, it could be met by family or friends, or from a work pension, or some combination of these. But a person cannot rely on earnings (3) (they would normally be a worker instead) unless it is the wages of their non-EEA national partner (4), the self-employed earnings of their British partner (5), or in the case of an EEA national child, the earnings of their non-EEA national parent (6).

Problems with the permanent right to reside through long residence

EEA nationals who are not in work are often asked to provide proof of their entitlement to benefits and housing and this can prove difficult or impossible. Before 1 January 2021, EEA nationals could apply for a residence permit, but this was only a requirement for EEA ‘extended family members’ so many did not apply.

Because a residence permit has never been a requirement to acquire the permanent right to reside, it is simply a matter of fact not documentation, that the person has been in the UK for the relevant time. The permanent right to reside is acquired through five years' continuous residence while exercising an EEA right to reside (e.g. as a worker, a student, etc).

Periods of residence before 30 April 2006 (when the right of permanent residence was established) can count, provided the person’s residence complied with the law at that time. Periods of unemployment during which a person was a retained worker or jobseeker also count towards the qualification period. It also includes any period of registered unemployment, no matter how long, before 1 January 2014 or after then, provided that the person had worked in the UK for at least one year. A period of registered unemployment can be proven by that person’s national insurance record.

However, because the five years' residence needs to be continuous, even a short break that does not comply with the EEA regulations (e.g. a jobseeker who did not register at the Jobcentre) can cause the clock to be reset to zero and a five-year period to be served afresh. The DWP guidance (ADM, chapter C1 (pdf)) is helpful: it states that gaps of up to 30 days in any 12-month period do not cause a break (paras C1812-14) if they are caused by a change in the type of residency (e.g. from worker to jobseeker, to student, etc.). But this is only guidance and case law suggests that gaps of up to three months between leaving your employment and registering as a jobseeker can be ignored: MK v SSWP [2013] UKUT 163 (AAC).

Absences from the UK for up to six months in one year or longer for certain important reasons (e.g. military service, childbirth, overseas posting) do not affect the continuity of residence.