Other family members who are not applying for leave to enter or remain but live in the same household are included in the term “family.”
We’ll start with the lodging, which is the easiest to prove. The applicant must demonstrate that the family will be able to live comfortably without relying on public subsidies.
A flat, house, or room in a shared property is referred to as “accommodation.” It must be owned or occupied solely by the family, with no assistance from the government.
“Family” includes additional family members who are not asking for entry or stay but live in the same household as you.
If the accommodation is neither overcrowded or violates public health rules, it is considered “sufficient.”
There are housing standards that define what constitutes an overloaded room or residence. In Home Office guidance, it is described how principles are applied in the immigration context.
Basically, you’ll need to count how many individuals are sleeping in each room. Living rooms are included in the category of rooms. There should be no more than a specific number of people per room of the house, and children of the opposite sex should not be forced to share a room until they are 10 years old.
Children under the age of one are not allowed to share a room with their parents. Children from 1 to 9 years old are counted as half of a person, whereas those aged 10 and up are counted as one person.
You must include a description of the property in the documentation you submit with your application, which defines the number of rooms available. You can ask your letting agent or instruct a professional to conduct a Property Inspection Report.
| Example |
| John is a British citizen who resides in the United Kingdom with his two British children, Jewel, 10, and Chelsey, 8, who are both British citizens. They live in the home that John’s parents own, which is also located at the same address. Jenny, John’s wife, applied for a spouse visa from the Philippines. The couple submits mortgage documents in John’s parents’ name, a land register extract proving ownership of the home, and a description of the house provided by an estate agent as proof of appropriate housing. Copies of John’s parents’ passports are produced, as well as a letter from them confirming that Jenny, John, and the children are welcome to live at the property without paying rent. There are three bedrooms and a living room in the residence. As a result, it is “sufficient accommodation.” John’s parents sleep in one room, Jenny and John can sleep in the second bedroom, and the children can sleep in the third bedroom and the living room, respectively. |
Overcrowding: What does it mean?
People in England and Wales have to meet certain standards in order for their homes to be deemed overcrowded. If either the room standard or the space standard is not met, it will be deemed overcrowded. The definition of overcrowding includes both homes that are privately owned and those that are owned by the government.
Overcrowding happens if two people of opposite sexes who are not living together as a couple have to sleep in the same room because there aren’t enough rooms for both of them, then the room standard is broken by the Act.
The space standard requirement is not met when the number of people who can sleep in a home is too high, taking into account the number and size of the rooms that can be used for sleeping.
What the Home Office Caseworker checks?
For immigration purposes, the Home Office doesn’t look at how big each room is because it’s hard to show and measure. Instead, they look at how many people can stay in each room based on how many rooms there are.
Method for determining if a place is too crowded
- Figure out how many people will be living in the place.
This includes everyone who would be living in the house, even if they weren’t part of the application for leave to stay there. A child under the age of one is not counted. Children between the ages of one and 10 are counted as a half.
- Find out how many rooms can be used for sleeping.
As the person making the decision looks at the number of rooms, they should think about how the sleeping arrangements could be set up rather than how they are set up now. When this is done in real life, it means counting the number of rooms that are bedrooms or that could be used as a bedroom. Bathrooms and kitchens should not be counted as places to sleep.
Rooms that are less than 50 square feet don’t count.
- Compare the number of people who would be living there with the number of rooms that could be used for sleeping to see if it would be too crowded.
According to their age, gender, and if they are a couple, the following table shows how many people should be able to stay in a house with the right number of rooms for sleeping:
| Number of rooms in the accommodation available for sleeping | Number of people permitted to sleep in the accommodation without it being overcrowded |
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 7.5 |
| 5 | 10 |
| More than 5 rooms | 10 plus an additional 2 persons for each room in excess of 5 rooms For example, 6 rooms = 12 people, 7 rooms = 14 people |
Source: www.gov.uk
For better understanding, here are the two examples:
| Example 1 |
| There is only one sleeping room available at the property. Alvin and Laura have a 5-year-old child who would live in the house. Because only two people are permitted to sleep in the property without it becoming overcrowded, the housing is overcrowded and therefore does not provide adequate accommodation under the Immigration Rules. The visa application will be refused because of failing to meet the accommodation requirement. |
| Example 2 |
| Mike has a one-bedroom apartment with a living room that he rents. There are two sleeping rooms available. His wife, Alice, applies to enter the UK. The housing is not overcrowded because it can accommodate up to three people without being overcrowded. The visa application will meet the accommodation requirement. |
DISCLAIMER: All information posted is merely for educational and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for a professional advise. Should you decide to act upon on the information on this website, you do so at your own risk.
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