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The Housing Executive is responsible for housing people who are eligible for assistance. You may not be eligible for assistance if you are a person from abroad or if the Housing Executive decides you are guilty of unacceptable behaviour. If you want to challenge the Housing Executive's decision on eligibility you should get specialist advice.
How does the Housing Executive decide if I am eligible for assistance?
The Housing Executive has a legal duty to provide advice on homelessness and its prevention to anyone in Northern Ireland who asks for it.
The Housing Executive applies two tests to decide if you are eligible for assistance. They look at whether or not:
- you are an eligible person from abroad,
- you are guilty of unacceptable behaviour.
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Am I an eligible person from abroad?
Most people in Northern Ireland are eligible for housing assistance. If you live in Northern Ireland and have a British or Irish passport, you should be eligible for help from the Housing Executive.
If you require permission to enter and leave the UK, you may not be eligible for assistance. Non-European Union citizens are usually not eligible for assistance. Persons subject to immigration control are usually not eligible for assistance, although some exceptions exist.
In March 2009, a new category of restricted persons was created to facilitate homelessness applications of families with mixed immigration status.
A restricted person is someone who:
• is not eligible for assistance,
• is subject to immigration control,
• has no leave to enter or remain in the UK, or cannot rely on public funds to remain here.
If there is a restricted person in your household, but you are eligible for assistance, the Housing Executive considers the circumstances of all the members of your household, including the restricted person.
If you are found homeless, but your homeless status or priority need is decided on the circumstances of the restricted person in your family, the Housing Executive has a duty to offer you accommodation. Unlike their general duty to fully eligible homeless applicants, the Housing Executive's duty towards restricted cases is to make one offer of private rented accommodation.
Workers
If you work in the UK and come from an EEA country you should be eligible for housing assistance under European law. This includes A8 nationals who would formerly have had to register under the Home Office's Workers Registration Scheme. This scheme ended on 30 April 2011. A8 nationals will now have the same rights to reside as other EEA nationals.
If you are an A2 national, from Bulgaria and Romania, you must be a worker under the Home Office’s Worker Authorisation Scheme to be eligible for homelessness assistance. If you unsure about your eligibility you should seek assistance from the Law Centre NI.
Find out more about the Home Office's Worker Authorisation Scheme.
Asylum seekers
If you arrived in the UK after April 2000 you will probably not be eligible for assistance from the Housing Executive. However, you may be eligible for assistance from the Home Office, National Asylum Support Service or from social services.
If you are in this situation and not entitled to any help from the Housing Executive, get advice from the Law Centre (NI) or Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic minorities (NICEM) as soon as possible.
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Am I guilty of unacceptable behaviour?
The Housing Executive can refuse to help you if it decides you have been guilty of unacceptable behaviour. The Housing Executive can refuse to help you if the unacceptable behaviour was:
- carried out by you,
- carried out by a member of your household,
- carried out by a visitor to your property.
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 only 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. The Housing Executive can decide you are ineligible for assistance as a result of unacceptable behaviour regardless of whether the incident happens before you apply or after you have been accepted onto the waiting list.
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What happens if the Housing Executive decides I'm eligible for assistance?
If the Housing Executive decides that you are homeless, in priority need and eligible for assistance it must continue enquiries to check if you are intentionally homeless. You may be entitled to temporary accommodation whilst the enquiries are being carried out. Although you can be asked to leave if you break the rules of the temporary accommodation, you may have a right to temporary accommodation until the investigation is complete.
The Housing Executive must send you a decision letter on your homeless application within 30 days. The letter must explain the reasons for the Housing Executive's decision on your homeless application.
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What happens if the Housing Executive decides I'm not eligible for assistance?
The Housing Executive must send you a decision letter on your homeless application within 30 days. If the decision is negative, the letter must give a reason or reasons why the Housing Executive believes you are not eligible for assistance.
If the Housing Executive decides you are not eligible for assistance because you are a person from abroad it doesn't have to house you. If you are staying in Housing Executive temporary accommodation you will have to leave even if you are in priority need. The Housing Executive should give you advice and information on finding alternative accommodation.
If it decides you are ineligible for assistance because you are guilty of unacceptable behaviour, the Housing Executive's duties depend on your personal circumstances.
The Housing Executive has a legal duty to give housing advice on homelessness and its prevention to anyone in Northern Ireland who asks for it.
Not eligible but in priority need
If you are in priority need you will be entitled to temporary accommodation for an appropriate time to allow you to find alternative accommodation. You will also be entitled to advice and assistance from the Housing Executive on finding alternative accommodation.
Not eligible and not in priority need
If the Housing Executive decides you are not eligible and not in priority need, the Housing Executive has a legal duty to give you housing advice on preventing homelessness.
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Get Advice
The Housing Executive has a legal duty to give housing advice on homelessness and its prevention to anyone in Northern Ireland who asks for it.
If you have applied to the Housing Executive as homeless and it has decided you are not eligible, contact an advice agency. The rules for eligibility are complicated. You have a statutory right to ask the Housing Executive to carry out a review of their decision if they have decided you are not eligible. An adviser can help you with this complicated process.
If your review or appeal is unsuccessful you should consider other housing alternatives.
Advice is available from Housing Rights Service, the Law Centre (NI), Citizens Advice Bureau or an advice agency.
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Homelessness Checklist
