Other European nationals
Contents:
Who does this page apply to?
The law about the rights of EEA nationals to live, work and claim access to housing, benefits and other services changed on 1 January 2021 when the Brexit transition period ended. You have the rights described on this page only if:
- you are a citizen of an EEA member state other than Ireland
- you are not the family member of a British citizen
- you entered the UK before 23:00 on 31 December 2020
- you do not qualify as a EEA worker or self-employed person
- you applied to the EU settlement scheme (EUSS) on or before 30 June 2021 or you made a late application which has been accepted and
- either:
- you have been granted EU pre-settled status or
- you are waiting for a decision about your EUSS application.
If all of these apply, this page describes your rights to housing and benefits until you get EU settled status or your EUSS application is decided.
In other cases, you can find out if you are entitled to housing and benefits on other pages, as follows:
- if you are an Irish citizen, or the family member of a British citizen, see: British and Irish citizens
- if you are a worker or self-employed person see: EEA workers
- if you have been granted EU settled status see: people with indefinite leave
- if you entered the UK for the first time after 31 December 2020 see people with limited leave or people with indefinite leave, according to the type of leave you were given; or
- if you failed to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme before 1 July 2021, you may have lost your right to live and work in the UK and may be an overstayer: see people who are destitute.
Who are 'other European nationals'?
If you are a European Economic Area citizen (called here an 'EEA national') who was working or seeking work in the UK you had the right to 'freedom of movement' until 31 December 2020. If you were not working, seeking work or self-employed, you may also have had the right to live here and access housing and social benefits if:
- you were a student
- you were living here off your own resources (self-sufficient)
- you were the parent of an EEA child in education here and you or another parent has worked in the UK
- you were a long-term resident who has acquired a permanent right of residence.
If you were working in the UK and are temporarily out of work or unable to work due to illness or accident you might still have been treated as an EEA worker.
Until 30 June 2021, the rights of people from EEA countries who arrived and had a right to reside in the UK before 1 January 2021 are still protected. After that date, your rights will depend on whether you have applied for or got settled or pre-settled status.
What documents might you be asked for?
To prove that you are an EEA citizen you need a passport or identity card from your country of origin, but there is no specific document to show that you are studying or are self-sufficient, it is simply a matter of fact.
After five years as a resident you will normally have qualified for a permanent right of residence, and you could have your residence permit endorsed to show this. If you qualified you had the right to reside even if you do not have a permit to prove it.
Additional documents you must provide from 1 July 2021
Until 30 June 2021 (the deadline to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme) the only documents you need are those described above.
But from 1 July 2021 you must also provide evidence that you have either:
- EU settled status or pre-settled status; or
- that you made an application to the EU Settlement Scheme on or before the deadline.
If you did not make an application by the deadline, unless you can show good reason for your failure to apply, you will not have the right to live in the UK and will become an overstayer.
What are your rights to housing and benefits?
All EEA nationals
In addition to any rights you get from your status as a student, self-sufficient person, a parent with a child in education or long-term resident, you also have the following rights:
- You may have the right to apply for accommodation direct from a housing association regardless of whether you have worked here.
- You can apply for accommodation from a private landlord. But in England you must provide your landlord with documents that show you have the 'right to rent'. Until the 30 June 2021 your passport or national identity card is enough. But from 1 July 2021 you must also provide evidence that you applied to the EU Settlement Scheme on time.
- You can get free advice and information from your council (or from the organisation providing it on their behalf) to help you find accommodation if you are homeless or to help prevent you from becoming homeless if are at risk of it within the next 56 days. This advice must take account of any needs you have if you have been released from prison/detention or are a care leaver, a former member of the armed forces, a victim of domestic abuse, leaving hospital, suffering from a mental illness or impairment, or from being a member of any other group that the council has identified as being at particular risk of homelessness in their area.
If you are a student
You can apply for housing, assistance if you are homeless and for universal credit/housing benefit, but you will only get them if:
- you are habitually resident in the British Isles or Republic of Ireland
- you had a right to reside in the UK before 1 January 2021
- you fit the definition of an EEA student
- your circumstances have changed since you started the course and signed the declaration that you could support yourself
- you fit the general qualifications for the benefit or service: most students cannot claim universal credit/housing benefit, for example, and you cannot get help as homeless if you have a home in another country.
To qualify as an EEA student, however, you must have comprehensive sickness insurance.
You must also have signed a declaration that you were able to support yourself. So if you later need to claim benefits or apply for help as homeless, you may need to show how it is that your circumstances have changed since then. This is not necessary if you are just applying to go onto the council waiting list.
If you are a self-sufficient person
In all cases, you need to have arrived and had a right to reside in the UK before 1 January 2021 and be habitually resident in the British Isles or Republic of Ireland to be able to get housing benefit, apply for housing or get homelessness assistance.
You can apply for housing once you are habitually resident. But in most cases if you apply for homelessness assistance or universal credit/housing benefit you are told that you are no longer self-sufficient, and so have lost your right to reside in the UK.
However, in the case of claims for universal credit (UC) or housing benefit (HB) the official guidance suggests that if you have lived in the UK for some time and have never claimed before, the fact that you have previously been self-sufficient should be a factor in deciding whether you are an 'unreasonable burden,' as should the length of time you are likely to be claiming.
Similarly, with homelessness assistance: this should not be refused if the homelessness has occurred as a real emergency (a fire, for example, or domestic violence). The council may, however, limit its help to providing temporary accommodation and advice about finding your own housing.
If you are the parent of an EEA child in education
If you had a right to reside in the UK before 1 January 2021, are the parent of a child in education and at least one parent of that child has been an EEA worker in the UK when the child was in the UK, you are eligible for a housing allocation and homelessness assistance, and for universal credit/housing benefit if you are habitually resident (which as the parent of a child settled in a UK school you probably will be).
If you have a permanent right of residence
You are eligible for housing allocation, housing benefit and homelessness assistance as long as you are habitually resident in the British Isles or Republic of Ireland.
If you got your permanent right to reside as a result of working and are no longer working, or as a result of being the family member of someone who has stopped working or has died, then you do not need to be habitually resident to be eligible for a housing allocation, universal credit/housing benefit and homelessness assistance.
If you have applied through the EU Settlement Scheme
If you have applied for and been granted ‘settled status’ under the EU Settlement Scheme you have the right to housing and benefits even if you no longer have an EU right to reside.
See also:
