Zone 1/J9
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU / Tel 0303 444 3655
To: Chief Housing Officers of Local Authorities in England / 20 December 2013
Dear Chief Housing Officer
ELIGIBILITY FOR HOUSING ALLOCATIONS AND HOMELESSNESS ASSISTANCE
ENDING OF TRANSITIONAL CONTROLS ON BULGARIA AND ROMANIA
The transitional controls regulating access to the UK labour market by nationals of Bulgaria and Romania come to an end on 31 December 2013. This letter is to inform Chief Housing Officers of the impact of the ending of the transitional controls on eligibility for social housing and homelessness assistance. After this date nationals of Bulgaria and Romania who are working in the UK will no longer be required to be authorised by the Home Office in order to be eligible.
Bulgaria and Romania(the A2 States) joined the EU in January 2007. The Accession Treaties which apply to the A2 States included a derogation allowing other Member Statesto regulate access to their labour market during a transitional period. Home Office regulations give effect to this derogation by providing that low skilled A2 nationals are only allowed to work in the UK if they are authorised to do so, until they have completed 12 months continuous authorised work. Under the terms of the Accession Treaties these transitional arrangements must come to an end by 31 December 2013.
The worker authorisation requirementswill no longer apply to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals from 1 January 2014. This will affect the way that local authorities handle housing applications from A2 nationals who are employed in the UK. The Annex to this letter explains these changes in more detail and their implications for local housing authorities.
These changes will only affect applications from nationals of Bulgaria and Romania. Nationals of Croatia(which joined the EU in July 2013) who wish to work in the UK will still need to be authorised to work here by the Home Office and will only be eligible for social housing and homelessness assistance if they are so authorised (until they have accrued 12 months authorised employment).See the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1467).
Any enquiries about this letter should be addressed to:
Frances Walker, in relation to allocations, by telephone on 0303 444 3655 or by e-mail to:
John Bentham, in relation to homelessness, by telephone on 0303 444 3752 or by email to:
Yours sincerely,
Frances WalkerJohn Bentham
ANNEX
The position before 1 January 2014
Under the Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3317) (‘the Accession Regulations’), nationals of the A2 States (with certain exceptions) are required to be authorised to work by the Home Office until they have accrued 12 months continuous authorised employment. Thereafter they are no longer required to be authorised and have a right to reside in the UK as an EU worker in accordance with the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (‘the EEA Regulations’) which regulate the right of entry and residence in the UK of EEA nationals.
Workers from the A2 States who are authorised have the same right to equal treatment as other EEA workers. However, while looking for (or between jobs) their right to reside is conditional on them being self-sufficient and not imposing an unreasonable burden on the UK social assistance system.
Under the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) Regulations 2006 (’the Eligibility Regulations’) most EEA nationals who are working in the UK are automatically eligible for social housing and homelessness assistance (regulations (4(2)(a) and 6(2)(a)). However, the effect of regulations 4(2)(c) and 6(2)(c) of the Eligibility Regulations is that A2 workers who are subject to work authorisation are eligible for social housing and homelessness assistance only if they hold an accession worker authorisation document and are working in accordance with the conditions set out in that document.
While ‘between jobs’, A2 nationals who are subject to authorisation do not retain their EU worker status but instead revert to the status of a ‘work-seeker’. This is in contrast to most EEA nationals who retain their worker status if they lose their job through ill health or involuntarily (see reg 6(2) of the EEA Regulations). This means that, until they have been in continuous registered employment for 12 months, A2 nationals, unlike other EEA nationals, are not eligible for an allocation or homelessness assistance if they lose their job.
The position from 1 January 2014
As of 1 January 2014, A2 nationals who wish to work in the UK will no longer need to be authorised by the Home Office.
The changes mean that A2 nationals will be entitled to full labour market access from 1 January2014 and that those who take up work on or after 1 January 2014 will have a right to reside in the UK on the same basis as other EEA workers and will be treated as a ‘qualifying person’ in accordance with the EEA Regulations.
As A2 nationals will no longer require to be authorised in order to be treated as a worker for the purposes of the definition of a ‘qualified person’ in the EEA Regulations, regulation 4(2)(c)(i) and 6(2)(c)(i) of the Eligibility Regulations will no longer apply.
As a result, A2nationals who take up work on or after 1 January 2014will be eligible for social housing and homelessness on the same basis as other EEA nationals who are in employment. Local authorities will still need to verify that applicants from the A2 Member States are in work (or were in work on or after 1 January and have left it involuntarily) but will no longer need to verify that they are authorised by the Home Office in respect of that employment.
The Immigration (European Economic Area) (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3032) contain transitional provisions in relation to A2 nationals who were subject to worker authorisation on 31December, to the effect that such a person will retain their status as a worker wherethey become involuntarily unemployed on or after 1 January 2014; and any period during which they were working as authorised before 1 January 2014 will count towards the acquisition of a permanent right to reside.
Regulation 4(2)(c)(i) and 6(2)(c)(i)of the Eligibility Regulations will become redundant as of 1 January and will be revoked when a suitable opportunity arises.