Dead simple - or not.

[DartmoorWitch]

Our application for my wife's 2.5yr extension was submitted one week ago.

Only, we realized one of our documents - that of our tenancy agreement - is a bit off. Unfortunately we didn't realize that my wife isn't supposed to be on the tenancy agreement as we rent from a Housing Association. We only added her name to the agreement for proof of address good news that I am entitled to rent this flat solely within my own name owing to my health condition(s). We've applied for a new tenancy agreement (with my name only) and a letter from our housing association (in my name only) asking them to explain that the tenancy was granted irrespective of my wife and that I alone qualified for it...

But the only problem is, we can't find anyway to contact Visas and immigration to update them on this. They're supposed to contact you if they need additional evidence/clarity on something, but we all know they never do, for reasons we all know why but let's not get into that...

My housing association had absolutely no problem with my wife being on the tenancy agreement and they knew about my wifes immigration status. I assume that this was due to the fact that it didn't matter if she was with me or not when qualifying for housing association accommodation.

A bit of a kick in the groin considering we pay 90% of the average rent for this area on this place.

Would appreciate some help and feedback.

Many thanks.

[DartmoorWitch]

UPDATE: Seems this doesn't apply to us. Our HA is a completely private organization, and we were never referred by our local authority/council.

However, people ought to be very careful when applying for this. It's best to simply not have your spouse on the tenancy agreement to begin with. And definitely don't ask for referrals: And if you can privately rent, it's probably safer to do so. Never get referred by the authorities and avoid having your spouse on the tenancy.



This can be found here, page 15: public funds

[seagul]

In my opinion your situation is different because you have taken the accommodation from a private housing association instead not for profit housing association. Usually councils works with not for profit housing associations.

[DartmoorWitch]

In my opinion your situation is different because you have taken the accommodation from a private housing association instead not for profit housing association. Usually councils works with not for profit housing associations.

Thanks for your reply. But there is still something worrying us is it seems our Housing Association does work with our local council on advertising properties. According from the Public Funds documents on page 14/15 It states that''
This page tells you abou local authority housing received by the settled spouse or partner of
a person subject to immigration control. ( we rent from independent housing association not from local authority housing, but local council does work with the HA we rent from )
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 ( joint tenancy cant be granted only if the housing which provided by HA as a result of referral from local authority. We applied online by ourselves and went through the bidding system not from council, I guess this is not counted as referral).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.

Following by page 15, it states that This page tells you when housing received through housing associations counts as a public
fund.
Housing associations are different to housing authorities. They are independent, not-forprofit, organisations that provide low-cost housing.
People who are subject to immigration control can apply to a housing association and enter
into a contract with them.
If they apply without being referred from a local authority or housing authority you must not
consider this as claiming public funds. ( I think this apply to our situation)
If a person applies to a housing association following a referral by the local authority or
housing authority you must consider this as recourse to public funds.
If it is unclear whether it is a housing association or local authority providing the housing,
you must contact the housing provider to establish the basis on which the applicant
qualified.

Thanks if some has similar situation can clarify this to save us worrying!

[seagul]

we were never referred by our local authority/council.

If a person applies to a housing association following a referral by the local authority or
housing authority you must consider this as recourse to public funds.

You have already read the official guidance. You were not referred by your housing authority then why you are worried??

[DartmoorWitch]

we were never referred by our local authority/council.

If a person applies to a housing association following a referral by the local authority or
housing authority you must consider this as recourse to public funds.

You have already read the official guidance. You were not referred by your housing authority then why you are worried??

Hi there,

My spouse typed out that second reply. Sorry for answering our own questions!

Cheers,