Certificates of Habitation
Also known as Accommodation Certificates, these are required by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office and by the British High Commission in the relevant country, for any person needing a visa application to enter and live in the United Kingdom with relatives, on a permanent or semi-permanent basis.
The application is made by the householder in the United Kingdom. An inspection is carried out on the home in which the person needing the visa is to live, and a certificate in the form of a short letter report is provided. This is to confirm whether the accommodation is indeed suitable and meets the necessary criteria.
“The costs of this service are usually very competitive and often much lower compared to a similar inspection where the survey is followed by a formal written report. This is due to reduced time spent on admin.”
A householder’s property is considered a safe and healthy living environment for the occupants if it satisfies the overcrowding standard in the Housing Acts 1985 and 2004, of which there are two types, the Room Standard and the Space Standard. A property is considered to be overcrowded if either the Room Standard or the Space Standard is exceeded.
Under the requirements of the Room Standard, there must be enough rooms in the householder’s property to ensure that no male or female aged 10 years or over has to share a bedroom with a member of the opposite gender, unless they are living together as “partners”. The Space Standard sets out the maximum number of persons who can sleep in the householder’s property when taking into account the number of rooms which are available to the occupants and can be used for sleeping.
To understand more about how our Certificates of Habitation could help you, you can give us a call on 0800 880 6024, email certificates@rightsurveyors.co.uk, chat with us using the widget in the bottom right of the page or submit an enquiry using our handy contact form by clicking the button below.