British and Irish citizens
Contents:
Are you a returning 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) 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 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 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 of what happens if your partner applies for housing or claims benefit:
- applying for housing in Scotland
- applying for housing in Northern Ireland
- claiming benefit (universal credit, state pension credit, housing benefit).
Other British nationals and Commonwealth citizens
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 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?
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, if you are a British or Irish citizen you can also apply for accommodation from a private landlord or direct from a housing association.
In Scotland, if you are a British or Irish citizen you are entitled to housing or homelessness assistance from your local council (this is because you are not subject to immigration control) but in Scotland and Northern Ireland you will usually be asked to prove your status and in Northern Ireland, you must also show that you are habitually resident.
If you are British or Irish, you can prove your status with a passport (current or expired) or birth certificate. 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 don’t have any of these but you are a long-term resident you can get help proving your status from the Home Office Windrush Help Team or call them directly on 0800 678 1925. Or you can find a local immigration advice agency to help you.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, if you are claiming universal credit, state pension credit or housing benefit you must prove your status and also show that you are habitually resident. If you have always lived in the UK or Ireland, then you meet these conditions. However, the habitual residence condition may disqualify you from benefits if you have lived abroad, i.e. you were habitually resident there 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 and claiming benefits (or in Northern Ireland, applying for housing) you must show that you are habitually resident in the British Isles or Ireland. You can show you meet this requirement in the following ways:
- Through actual habitual residence. The DWP/DfC determine whether you are habitually resident according to the facts in your case. It is not enough to show that 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, you are in receipt of state pension credit, or income-related employment and support allowance.
