Am I eligible for help?

You have to be eligible for assistance to be entitled to help as a homeless person. 

People from certain countries are not entitled to assistance from social services and this includes social housing.  If someone from one of these countries lives in your household the Housing Executive may be allowed to restrict its services to you.  This is quite a complicated area of law so if you're not from the UK or Ireland you should chat to an adviser to find out what your status is.

You can also fail the eligibility test if the Housing Executive decides you are guilty of unacceptable behaviour. This applies to unacceptable behaviour you committed within the previous 2 years in the area where you lived.

Examples of unacceptable behaviour include:

• causing serious nuisance to your neighbours;
• using the property for illegal purposes;
• using the property for immoral purposes;
• allowing the property to deteriorate.

The Housing Executive can refuse to help you if the unacceptable behaviour is so serious that the Housing Executive would be able to evict you if you were a Housing Executive tenant.

Example: You have been convicted of burglary of a neighbouring home. The Housing Executive may decide that you are not eligible for homelessness assistance.

Find out more about the eligibility test. 

If the Housing Executive decides you're not eligible for assistance you can ask for a senior member of staff to review this decision.  Get advice from your Housing Advice Development Worker or Housing Rights Service if you're going to challenge the Housing Executive as there are strict time limits involved.  The law says you need to request your review within 28 days of receiving the decision.