Guidance

Citizenship and housing need (updated April 2020)

Updated 16 September 2020

This guidance was withdrawn on 8 March 2023

This publication is withdrawn as it is no longer current.

Please access Information and guidance on civilian housing

Not everyone living in the UK can apply for social housing. You may not be eligible to apply if you are a citizen of another country or even if you are a British citizen who has been living abroad (except on assignment with the Armed Forces).

A Local Authority will not be able to accept an application if you are not eligible for housing.

Who is eligible to apply for social housing?

Due to demand for social housing being high and housing stock is in short supply in a lot of areas, restrictions are placed on who can apply. Restrictions also apply to the help local authorities can give in respect of homelessness and welfare benefits.

You can usually apply for a social housing if you are living and settled in the UK and you are:

• a British citizen, or
• a citizen of another country with the right to stay in the UK with no restrictions on how long you can stay.

You usually can’t apply for social housing if you are a foreign national who is subject to immigration control in the UK (for example, on a visitor or student visa or if you have been given permission to stay in the UK for only a fixed amount of time, or your conditions of stay say you are not entitled to have recourse to public funds).

If you are not sure about your immigration status, it is very important that you seek advice from a qualified immigration adviser registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner before you apply for:

• social housing
• help as a homeless person
• welfare benefits.

If you do not know how to find an advisor contact your local Unit Welfare Officer, or your local HIVE or Welfare Information Office.

If you are homeless now and need somewhere to stay immediately, you could make a homeless application and apply for social housing. Check first if you are eligible for help as a homeless person.

British citizens

You are eligible to apply for social housing if you are a British citizen living in the UK permanently and you have not lived abroad recently.

British citizens who have been living abroad

You may not be eligible to apply for social housing immediately if you are a British Citizen who has been living outside the UK, Eire (Republic of Ireland), the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man for a lengthy period. This is because Local Authorities can only provide housing for people who are classed as ‘habitually resident’. You may be affected by the ‘habitual residence’ test if you have been living abroad for some time and have recently returned to live in the UK. You may be able to challenge this if you were serving overseas with the UK Armed Forces or were a dependant of someone who was serving overseas with the UK Armed Forces. The Local Authority decides if you are ‘habitually resident’ in the UK. To assess your application, the Local Authority will look at things like:

• where you live and where you work
• where you have family or friends
• the reasons why you have come to live in the area
• where you intend to live in future
• whether you have been ‘habitually resident’ in the UK in the past.

If the Local Authority says that you are not habitually resident, you will not be allowed to apply for social housing. The Local Authority’s decision could also affect your entitlement to benefits such as income support, jobseekers allowance and housing benefit, as well as your rights to housing. Armed Forces personnel should not be discounted from applying for housing in any area on return from overseas, however you might need to challenge the decision and you may need help from the Citizens Advice Bureau or Shelter.

People form abroad applying for social housing

Only certain people from abroad are eligible for social housing, the rules can be complicated and depend on immigration status.

You may be eligible for Local Authority housing if you normally live in the UK and:

• you have indefinite leave to remain in the UK (settled status) and are living in the UK, Eire, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man
• you are worker from the European Economic Area (EEA) (the EU plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein)
• you are a self-employed EEA worker
• you are a member of an EEA worker’s family
• you have been granted refugee status
• you have been given either exceptional leave to remain, discretionary leave or humanitarian protection, if this status was not given with the condition that you have ‘no recourse to public funds’
• you have been granted a Destitution Domestic Violence concession from the UK Border Agency.

If you are serving overseas or you are dependant to someone serving overseas and you do not have British Citizenship or indefinite leave to enter the UK you will not be able to apply for housing in the UK and may have to return to your country of origin. If you are unsure contact your local Unit Welfare Staff as soon as possible to ensure that you have the correct visa to enable you to access housing in the UK.

Who gets priority for local authority housing?

Local authorities can now set many of the rules about who can get social housing in their area. Even if you are eligible to apply, you may find that you will not be housed because a Local Authority do not consider you in housing need.

What you can do if the local authority says you don’t qualify

If the Local Authority says it has no obligation to offer you social housing, get advice to see if you can challenge the decision. An adviser may be able to help you put together your case and explain whether any of the following options might be appropriate:

• ask the Local Authority to review its decision. You can ask them to look at your application again and review their decision if you think it was wrong
• make a fresh application for social housing. You can make a new application if your circumstances change. This may be worthwhile if your immigration status changes after a time in the UK
• challenge the Local Authority by judicial review. This may be an option if the Local Authority didn’t follow the correct legal procedure when deciding your application. For example, they may have ignored relevant information, such as how long you have been in the UK or may have considered things that shouldn’t affect their decision. Judicial review is used to challenge decisions made by public bodies such as local authorities. You will need legal help from a solicitor.

Information sourced from Shelter

More information can be found at:

• UK Visas and Immigration
• Immigration rules
• Immigration rules: HM forces.

Joint Service Housing Advice Office

Contact the Joint Service Housing Advice Office on the Civilian number: 01252 787574 and Military number: 94222 7574. You can also email the office on rc-pers-jshao-0mailbox@mod.gov.uk.