Check you have the ‘right to reside’ for housing

You might need to show you have a right to reside in the UK to get:

• help from your local council with social housing

• somewhere to stay if you're homeless

You’ll need to show you have a right to reside if you’ve got pre-settled status from the EU Settlement Scheme - or if you’ve applied to the scheme and you’re waiting for a decision.

You might be in this situation if you’re a citizen of the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland and you arrived in the UK by 31 December 2020.

You might also be in this situation if you’re the family member of a citizen of the EEA or Switzerland and they arrived in the UK by 31 December 2020.

The EEA is the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

If you haven’t applied to the EU Settlement Scheme yet, check if you can still apply to get pre-settled or settled status.

If you need help with Housing Benefit, you’ll need to follow a different process. Get help with Housing Benefit.

Proving your right to reside

If you’re an EEA citizen, you might have a right to reside either:

• because of your own situation - for example because you’re working or looking for work

• as the family member of an EEA citizen - they must have a right to reside because of their situation

If you’re not an EEA citizen, you can only have a right to reside as a family member of an EEA citizen.

You'll only have to show you have one type of right to reside.

Proving a right to reside as a family member

You might have a right to reside if you have a family member and all of the following apply to them:

• they’re a citizen of Switzerland or the European Economic Area (EEA) - this is the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

• they arrived in the UK by 31 December 2020

• they have a right to reside

You don’t need to be an EEA citizen to get a right to reside from a family member.

A family member means you can be their:

• husband, wife or civil partner

• child or grandchild if you're under 21 - you could also be the child or grandchild of their husband, wife or civil partner

• child or grandchild, if you’re over 21 and you depend on their financial support or care to meet your basic needs - this includes being the child or grandchild of their husband, wife or civil partner

• parent or grandparent, if you depend on their financial support or care to meet your basic needs 

You might have a permanent right to reside if you’ve lived in the UK for at least 5 years as a family member, or through another type of right to reside.

If you’re the family member of someone who has lost their right to reside, you will also lose your right to reside as their family member. For example, if they lose their job and don’t find a new job within a year.

You might also have the right to reside through other people in your family. This will be based on where you lived with them, what their right to reside is and whether you depend on them or need their care. This is known as being an ‘extended family member’.

You can only have a right to reside as an extended family member if you applied for a family permit, registration certificate or residence card before 31 December 2020.

The rules are complicated so get advice from your nearest Citizens Advice.

If you’re a family member of a British citizen

The rules are different.

You won’t automatically have a right to reside because of a British family member.

The rules are complicated so get advice from your nearest Citizens Advice.

Getting the right evidence

When you apply for help with housing or homelessness, your local council will check your EEA relative has a right to reside. For example, you could show employment contracts and payslips if they’re a worker.

You’ll also need to show evidence of your relationship to them, such as birth or marriage certificates.

Proving a permanent right to reside

You might have a permanent right to reside if you’ve been in the UK for 5 years or more. You can sometimes get a permanent right to reside in less than 5 years - for example, if you retire or can’t work any more because you’re ill. 

You’ll lose your permanent right to reside if you spend 5 years outside the UK without gaps.

You need to apply for settled status, even if you have a permanent right to reside. If you don’t yet have settled status, you should make a late application to the EU Settlement Scheme.