The Housing Executive will have a duty to offer you accommodation if it thinks you are eligible for assistance.

You may not be eligible if you are a ‘certain person from abroad’. If you have a ‘restricted person’ living in your household, the Housing Executive may limit its duty towards you.

You may also be ineligible for homelessness assistance 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 neighbourhood home. Before deciding what duties it has towards you, the Housing Executive may want to investigate whether you are eligible for assistance. If it think you have been guilty of unacceptable behaviour, the Housing Executive may decide that you are not eligible for homelessness assistance.

Find out more about the eligibility test. 

The Housing Executive has a legal duty to give housing advice and information on preventing homelessness to anyone who asks in Northern Ireland.