Council house tenancy contract

[lemarlemar121]

Hi.
I was living in a one bed council house before my wife and two children come to live with me in the UK. After that the council said the house is overcrowded and a year later they gave us a bigger house.

But when we were signing the tenancy contract they said that the tenancy must be with both my self and my wife.
I told them that my wife doesn’t have any right to public funds they had a copy of her biometric card as well, which clearly says no recourse to public funds.

But the housing officer insisted that no we will give you a joint tenancy and they put my wife on the tenancy agreement.

Now my question is My wife will be applying for flr m. First extension next month and we have to provide the tenancy agreement with her application, will the HO says why is she on a council house which is a public fund?

If so what should I do shall I get a letter from the council to confirm or explain why they gave us a joint tenancy not just on my name?

Thanks

[lemarlemar121]

Any help any one

[New on forum]

Hi.
I was living in a one bed council house before my wife and two children come to live with me in the UK. After that the council said the house is overcrowded and a year later they gave us a bigger house.

But when we were signing the tenancy contract they said that the tenancy must be with both my self and my wife.
I told them that my wife doesn’t have any right to public funds they had a copy of her biometric card as well, which clearly says no recourse to public funds.

But the housing officer insisted that no we will give you a joint tenancy and they put my wife on the tenancy agreement.

Now my question is My wife will be applying for flr m. First extension next month and we have to provide the tenancy agreement with her application, will the HO says why is she on a council house which is a public fund?

If so what should I do shall I get a letter from the council to confirm or explain why they gave us a joint tenancy not just on my name?

Thanks

She is in breach of her visa condition.
She can live with you in council house but the tenancy agreement must be only in your name.

[lemarlemar121]

Hi.
I was living in a one bed council house before my wife and two children come to live with me in the UK. After that the council said the house is overcrowded and a year later they gave us a bigger house.

But when we were signing the tenancy contract they said that the tenancy must be with both my self and my wife.
I told them that my wife doesn’t have any right to public funds they had a copy of her biometric card as well, which clearly says no recourse to public funds.

But the housing officer insisted that no we will give you a joint tenancy and they put my wife on the tenancy agreement.

Now my question is My wife will be applying for flr m. First extension next month and we have to provide the tenancy agreement with her application, will the HO says why is she on a council house which is a public fund?

If so what should I do shall I get a letter from the council to confirm or explain why they gave us a joint tenancy not just on my name?

Thanks

She is in breach of her visa condition.
She can live with you in council house but the tenancy agreement must be only in your name.

But the council is insisting that no she has to go with you on a joint tenancy agreement. I told them about she doesn’t have any rights to public funds but they said no she has to be you on the tenancy.

If the council is refusing to take her off the tenancy what can I do?

[BecomingIrishCitizen]

That’s odd. You must be the main tenant in the house and add her as an “occupant”. She cannot be named as a second tenant as that means she is in breach of her visa conditions. Have you explained that you want to add her as an occupant only, not as a tenant? I’m sure you can rectify this fully! Nothing will come of it if it was accidental/you and she didn’t know.

[lemarlemar121]

That’s odd. You must be the main tenant in the house and add her as an “occupant”. She cannot be named as a second tenant as that means she is in breach of her visa conditions. Have you explained that you want to add her as an occupant only, not as a tenant? I’m sure you can rectify this fully! Nothing will come of it if it was accidental/you and she didn’t know.

Before they gave us the council house, the council verification person came to our flat. He checked all our documents from id to passports of every one. Payslips bank statements and everything else.

I told the verification officer that she’s on spouse visa this is her biometric card. She’s working she doesn’t have any right to public funds. She checked her biometric card and said it’s ok she can be with you on the tenancy.

Then at the keys hand over day and signing the tenancy I said to the lady again she said the verification have been done you both can sign the joint tenancy agreement.

So it’s not a mistake. It’s either they don’t know rules of immigration or don’t bother to do their job.

I will again speak to them and see what they say.

[JB007]

So it’s not a mistake. It’s either they don’t know rules of immigration or don’t bother to do their job.

The council staff are not immigration experts. When you asked the council for a bigger property, it was up to your wife to ensure that she did not take public funds.

[lemarlemar121]

So it’s not a mistake. It’s either they don’t know rules of immigration or don’t bother to do their job.

The council staff are not immigration experts. When you asked the council for a bigger property, it was up to your wife to ensure that she did not take public funds.

If you read my posts properly. You will find that on numerous occasions we told them she can’t claim public fund.
If the council workers are not immigration experts at least they can read what is written on her biometric card. (No Recourse to public funds)

It’s a helpful advising form not for patronising people without reading their posts.

Thanks for your not very helpful advice

[JB007]

So it’s not a mistake. It’s either they don’t know rules of immigration or don’t bother to do their job.

The council staff are not immigration experts. When you asked the council for a bigger property, it was up to your wife to ensure that she did not take public funds.

If you read my posts properly. You will find that on numerous occasions we told them she can’t claim public fund.
If the council workers are not immigration experts at least they can read what is written on her biometric card. (No Recourse to public funds)

It’s a helpful advising form not for patronising people without reading their posts.

Thanks for your not very helpful advice

I told you the truth, if you didn't like it then that is a different matter. Your wife did not have recourse to public funds and she should not have taken these.

The UKVI guidance for what is Public Funds, is on the government site.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-funds

You asked your council for social housing foro you and your children and this is what it says on page 14

"This page tells you about local authority housing received by the settled spouse or partner of a person subject to immigration control.

A joint tenancy cannot be granted to 2 or more people if any of them is a person subject to immigration control who is ineligible for local authority housing. This applies both to local authority housing and to housing which is provided by a housing association as the result of a referral from a local authority. A sole tenancy may be granted to someone who is eligible (for example a British person or person settled in the UK) but whose spouse/partner is not eligible. The ineligible spouse or partner is not counted as accessing public funds as a result of this."


Has your wife got proof that she told the council she cannot take public funds?

[JB007]

First extension next month and we have to provide the tenancy agreement with her application, will the HO says why is she on a council house which is a public fund?

As you can see from the UKVI staff guidance link on public funds in my post above, they check to see if the applicant has taken public funds.

[lemarlemar121]

So it’s not a mistake. It’s either they don’t know rules of immigration or don’t bother to do their job.

The council staff are not immigration experts. When you asked the council for a bigger property, it was up to your wife to ensure that she did not take public funds.

If you read my posts properly. You will find that on numerous occasions we told them she can’t claim public fund.
If the council workers are not immigration experts at least they can read what is written on her biometric card. (No Recourse to public funds)

It’s a helpful advising form not for patronising people without reading their posts.

Thanks for your not very helpful advice

I told you the truth, if you didn't like it then that is a different matter. Your wife did not have recourse to public funds and she should not have taken these.

The UKVI guidance for what is Public Funds, is on the government site.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-funds

You asked your council for social housing foro you and your children and this is what it says on page 14

"This page tells you about local authority housing received by the settled spouse or partner of a person subject to immigration control.

A joint tenancy cannot be granted to 2 or more people if any of them is a person subject to immigration control who is ineligible for local authority housing. This applies both to local authority housing and to housing which is provided by a housing association as the result of a referral from a local authority. A sole tenancy may be granted to someone who is eligible (for example a British person or person settled in the UK) but whose spouse/partner is not eligible. The ineligible spouse or partner is not counted as accessing public funds as a result of this."


Has your wife got proof that she told the council she cannot take public funds?

Thank you for the links. Our proof is that the council took her biometric card copy three times and on her biometric card it clearly says no public funds allowed.

Secondly we told them a lot of times that she’s on this kind of visa and not allowed to claim public funds. Even at the of signing on tenancy we told them. And they cctv we can check that.

[Everyday4u]

I think you should avoid signing such contract where you are forced by council to go for joint tenancy. It is to avoid future potential problem with Home Office regarding extensions etc.
The Housing council staff usually are trained on basic immigration relating to who is entitle to social housing. I personally believe that your housing officer perhaps making a mistake in thinking that your wife is fine to be added on as joint tenant. Each council policies are different in different areas, however you should inquire form your council its policy on this.

However, i stand and fully agree with JB007 advice.