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When everyone has a home

Housing advice for Northern Ireland

Need some help finding your way around?

This is a pretty big website.  We've tried to lay things out in a way that makes sense, but it's not alway easy to find the information you need. If you're struggling to find information to help you, please answer the questions below to find the information that you need.  If you're not able to find the information to solve your housing problem, you can contact our advice team. 

This website only contains information on housing in Northern Ireland.  The laws on housing depend on which country you live in.  You can get advice from Shelter if you live in England.

This website only contains information on housing in Northern Ireland.  The laws on housing depend on which country you live in.  You can get advice from Shelter if you live in Scotland.

This website only contains information on housing in Northern Ireland.  The laws on housing depend on which country you live in.  You can get advice from your local Citizens Information branch if you live in the Republic of Ireland.

This website only contains information on housing in Northern Ireland.  The laws on housing depend on which country you live in.  You can get advice from Shelter if you live in Wales.

A child will only be dependent if they are under 16 or under 19 and still in full time education. If your child splits their time between two homes, only the person who receives child benefit for them will be considered to have dependent children.

You may be able to get help from the Housing Executive to find temporary housing as you seem to have a priority need for assistance.  Priority need is given to people who 

  • are pregnant
  • have dependent children
  • have a serious illness or disability or
  • are vulnerable in some way and this vulnerability means that they would find it more difficult to manage as a homeless person. 

You can go to the Housing Executive and ask a housing officer to investigate to see if you pass all four tests for homelessness.  Bring evidence of your priority need with you and ask the Housing Executive to provide you with temporary housing while it carries out its investigations if you have nowhere safe to stay.  Find out more about the Housing Executive's responsibilities to homeless people on our website. 

If you've got nowhere to stay tonight, contact the Housing Executive immediately or speak to one of our advisers. 

If you don't have any children and are in reasonably good health it can be difficult to get social housing as you won't pass all the necessary tests to be seen as legally homeless.  You can still apply for social housing but renting privately may be a more realistic option for you. 

If you've got nowhere to stay tonight, contact the Housing Executive or speak to one of our advisers. 

Overcrowding is a huge problem in Northern Ireland and many families are living in properties that are too small for them.  If you're a private tenant living in a property that is too small for your needs, you could look for another home to rent.  Remember that you'll need to end your tenancy properly and may need to wait until your contract ends before you can leave. 

If you rent your home from the Housing Executive or a housing association, you can apply for a transfer or register for an exchange.  There is no guarantee that you'll be offered a larger house quickly.  Your chances of being offered a transfer will depend on how many points you have and on how many vacant properties of the size you require are available in the area you've chosen to live in. 

Private landlords have a legal responsibility to deal with certain repairs.  Check your tenancy agreement to see what it says about reporting repairs.  If there is nothing specific in your agreement, the default repairing obligations apply.  This means that the landlord is responsible for dealing with repairs to the structure of the property and for plumbing, heating and electrical repairs.  

Always report repairs in writing and keep a record of when you reported the problems to your landlord. Use the letter templates on our website if you're not sure what to put in your letter. You have to allow the landlord a reasonable amount of time to deal with the problem.   If the landlord refuses to deal with the problem, you could ask the environmental health team at your local council to inspect the property.  The council can sometimes serve legal paperwork on landlords requiring that they do certain repairs within a set timeframe. 

Check your tenant handbook to work out if the repair is your responsibility or the responsibility of the Housing Executive or housing association.  When you report the repair, take as much detail as possible about when you reported the problem, who you spoke with and what that person said would happen.  If the repair hasn't been sorted out within a reasonable timeframe, you could make a formal complaint to your landlord.  

Certain repairs may qualify for the Right to Repair scheme.  This is a scheme that can give compensation to Housing Executive or housing association tenants if certain small repairs are not carried out within an acceptable timeframe.   

Housing Executive tenants may be able to use the Self Help scheme to deal with certain repairs.  This scheme allows the Housing Executive to compensate tenants who have paid heir own contractor to carry out certain repairs.  You can only get compensation if you got written permission from the Housing Executive to use the Self Help Scheme before doing any work. 

Private tenants and homeowners can apply for a Disabled Facility Grant to help make a property more suitable for someone who has a disability.  You can only get a disabled facilities grant if an Occupational therapist recommends it. You can get up to £25,000 for a disabled facilities grant. In some circumstances, this award can be increased by a further £25,000 at the discretion of the Housing Executive and with approval from the Department for Social Development.

If you rent your home from a housing association or the Housing Executive, your landlord should carry out adaptations to make your home more suitable. 

You may also be entitled to some support in your home to help you manage with certain chores or personal care tasks. 

If it's not possible to make the property suitable through adaptations you should ask the Housing Executive to investigate your circumstances to see if you are legally homeless. 

If you're having problems keeping up with the payments on your mortgage or secured loan it's important to get advice on your options.  The earlier you speak to someone about this problem the more options you'll usually have.  We have a team of mortgage debt advisers who can explain your options to you and represent you if you have to go to court for a repossession hearing. 

Talk to your housing association or to the Housing Executive if you're having problems with your rent.  Your landlord may be able to put you in touch with someone who can help you manage your money better.  You can be evicted if you owe lots of rent, but your landlord should only start the eviction process if all other attempts to solve this problem fail.  We also help you if you've fallen behind on your rent and you're worried that you could lose your home.  

It's important to let your landlord know if you're going to miss a rent payment.  Landlords will often be more understanding if they know in advance that your rent will be late.  Your landlord can evict you if you've fallen behind on your rent, but most landlords would rather keep you on as long as you can repay the money that you owe. 

If you're on benefits or a low income you may qualify for housing benefit.  If you're already getting housing benefit but this doesn't cover your full rent, you could apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment. 

Talk to one of our advisers if you're finding it difficult to pay your rent.  The sooner you get advice, the sooner you can start dealing with this problem. 

 

 

If something is going wrong with your parents or with the other people you live with you should talk to someone you trust about it.  You can call our housing advisers if you want to know about your options and there's lots of free and confidential helplines out there to help young adults who are struggling.  

If you can't stay at home because your parent or guardian has asked you to leave, you should contact the Housing Executive.  The Housing Executive has a legal responsibility to help anyone who's homeless or likely to become homeless.  The Housing Executive usually works in partnership with Social Services when helping under-18s and the first thing they'll try to do is see whether it's possible for you to stay at home with your parents, guardians or a responsible adult.  But if this isn't going to work, they can help you find temporary housing until you turn 18. 

As you're under 18 you might have a difficult time finding a landlord who is willing to let a property to you.  A tenancy can't be granted to anyone under the age of 18 but some landlords will grant a "licence to occupy" as long as you can provide an adult who is willing to guarantee the agreement.  This adult will be responsible for making sure that you stick to all the terms of the tenancy and will be reponsible for compensating the landlord if you don't.  For example, if you miss a payment of rent the landlord can ask your guarantor to pay it.  If you leave the tenancy before the term (usually 12 months) is over the landlord can ask your guarantor to pay rent until the end of the term. 

There are certain hostels that are intended for people aged under 25 - these are called foyers. There are 3 foyers in Northern Ireland, one in South Belfast, one in North Belfast and one in Derry/Londonderry However, if you're under 18 you need to get a referral from social services to access a foyer.  This means you'd have to go see social services and explain why you can't continue living in your current home and ask them to contact the foyer on your behalf to put you on the waiting list.   

 

If you can't stay at home because your parent or guardian has asked you to leave, you should contact the Housing Executive.  The Housing Executive has a legal responsibility to help anyone who's homeless or likely to become homeless.  The first thing that the Housing Executive will do though is speak to your parents to find out if there's any way that you can continue living at home. They may agree to provide mediation services for you and your family to help you try to resolve any differences between you.  If this isn't possible, the Housing Executive will only be responsible for finding you somewhere to live if you pass all four homelessness tests.  

Renting privately

You could try looking around for a room to rent in a shared house.  If you're not currently working, you may only be entitled to the Shared Allowance Rate of housing benefit.  This reduced level of housing benefit is paid to single people who are aged under 35 and who don't have any dependent children.  It's usually only enough to put towards the cost of renting a room in a shared house and even then, you'll often have to pay a top up to your landlord on top of what he receives in housing benefit. 

You'll also need to save up enough money to pay your first month's rent upfront and to pay your deposit.  You may be able to get a loan from the social fund to cover your first month's rent. Your housing benefit won't be paid until about 4 weeks after you've moved into the property.  If gathering up the money for a deposit is going to be difficult, you may want to contact Smartmove Housing to see if they have any suitable properties you could move into.  Smartmove is a charity that helps people find affordable privately rented housing.  If you take on a property with Smartmove, you won't have to pay the full deposit upfront.  Smartmove officers will meet with you to work out what you can afford to pay upfront and will then work out a deposit payment plan so you can pay off the rest of the deposit over the coming 6 months.  This system can make it much easier to move.  If you're interested in finding out more, give Smartmove a call or email your local Smartmove officer.  Smartmove officers can also help you make a claim for housing benefit and can connect you with support services if you think that you'll need a bit of extra help managing in your new rented home.  If you take on a Smartmove tenancy, you won't be able to stay on the housing waiting list and you'll lose any points you've been given

Getting help if there are problems at home

Are you having problems at home at the minute?  If something is going wrong with your parents or with the other people you live with you really should talk to someone about it.  You can call our housing advisers if you want to know about your options and there's lots of free and confidential helplines out there to help young adults who are struggling.  You can find links to some of these organisations on our website

Foyers - independent living for under 25s

There are certain hostels that are intended for people aged under 25 - these are called foyers.  There are 3 foyers in Northern Ireland, one in South Belfast, one in North Belfast and one in Derry/Londonderry.   You might want to call one of these foyers to find out if they have any vacancies and if you can apply directly to get a room here and if they have any vacancies at the minute.  Housing benefit will usually cover the full cost of renting a room in a foyer, but you may have to pay certain weekly service charges out of your other benefits. 

If you or your partner owns your home and you decide that can no longer live together you may need to get legal advice on your options.  Your options depend on your answers to these questions

  • Are both your names on the deeds of the property?
  • Did you set up a legal agreement outlining what would happen if you separated?
  • Are you married?
  • Do you have children?
  • Did you both contribute towards the deposit and mortgage costs?
  • How long have you been living in the property?

If you have a solicitor helping you deal with your relationship breakdown he or she may be able to help you work out what to do about your jointly owned property.  

You can ask the Housing Executive to help you if you can't stay in your current home.  The Housing Executive will only have a legal responsibility to help you find somewhere else to live if you pass all the tests for homelessness. You may pass these if it's not reasonable for you to stay in your current home, through no fault of your own and you have dependent children, an illness or disability or you are vulnerable in some way. 

If you've decided to leave the family home and your partner is going to stay there with the children renting privately is probably your most realistic housing option.  You may want to speak to Smartmove Housing for help finding an affordable rented tenancy. 

 

Your rights to stay in your current home will depend on whether the tenancy was granted solely to you, solely to your partner or to both of you as joint tenants.

If you still have a valid tenancy agreement and you're a named tenant, you will normally need the landlord's permission to leave the tenancy before the expiry date on the contract.  The landlord may agree to this if you find alternative tenants to move in or agree to pay a penalty charge. 

Your rights to stay on in the property if you and your partner split up will depend on which of you is the named tenant. 

If you are the only tenant on the tenancy agreement, you can ask your partner to leave.  Your partner is only entitled to live in the property while you agree to this arrangement. 

If you are joint tenants, you both have an equal right to live in the property.  If you're going through a divorce you can ask the court to transfer the tenancy into the sole name of the person who will remain in the property.  You can also ask your landlord to do this, if you aren't going through a legal divorce, but you may need to speak to one of our advisers about this process. 

If your partner is the named tenant, you may not be able to keep living in the property if they no longer want you to.  Survivors of domestic abuse should get advice on their options if they want to stay on in the family home.  If your partner has asked you to leave, the Housing Executive may have a responsibility to help you find somewhere else to live if you have children, have an illness or a disability or if you are vulnerable in some way. 

Neighbour disputes and antisocial behaviour can make you feel like a prisoner in your home.  Often it's possible to resolve neighbour problems by talking to the person who is the source of any tension.  They may not always be aware that their actions are having such a serious impact on the people living around them.  

The type of help available depends on whether you rent or own your home and on where the problems are happening.  The council can often deal with complaints about noise or nuisance behaviour.  The police can investigate any reports of criminal behaviour and the Housing Executive and housing associations should try to resolve any antisocial behaviour that is caused by their tenants or happening in their estates.  

If you've been threatened or attacked, you should report the matter to the police and keep a record of the incident number given to you by the police.  You may need this later on if the problems get so serious that you feel you need to move somewhere else. 

If there is a risk that you or anyone in your household could be killed or that your home could be destroyed in an attack that has been motivated by a hate crime or serious antisocial behaviour, inform the police immediately and get advice if you don't feel safe staying there.  If the police confirm that there is a threat out on you, you should get intimidation points and be placed in emergency housing by the Housing Executive.

 

If the landlord has permission to rent out the house and your tenancy complies with all the lender's legal requirements you are an “authorised tenant”.  Authorised tenants should be notified if the property is going through repossession.  You may receive a letter, addressed to “the occupier” or “the tenant” of the property, informing you of the lender’s intention to seek possession of the property from the landlord.

At court, there are several possible outcomes.  If the bank repossesses the property they may decide to appoint a receiver to manage the tenancy while they wait for the property to be sold.  You should get some paperwork explaining who the receiver is and how you should pay your rent in the future. 

The bank and the receiver will have to honour the terms of your tenancy agreement and will allow you to stay on in the property until that agreement ends.  They may not renew the agreement once it ends.  They could allow you to stay on in the property as a periodic tenant or they could take steps to end your tenancy so they can sell the property with vacant possession. 

You may need to talk to your current landlord about your deposit before the property is repossessed.  If your deposit was protected in one of the deposit schemes it will continue to be protected if the property is repossessed.  If you paid your deposit before 1 April 2013 or if your landlord failed to protect your deposit, you'll need to negotiate with your current landlord to get this money back.  It will not be passed on to the receiver. 

 

Landlords need to get their mortgage lender's permission before they can rent out a property. If your landlord hasn't done this the lender does not have to allow you to continue your tenancy even if you have a valid tenancy agreement. 

Keep an eye out for any post addressed to "the occupier".  You might receive a letter from the courts explaining that the property is subject to possession proceedings and asking for details of who lives in the property.  If you get a form like this speak to one of our advisers about your options.  You can ask to go to the court where you can explain your circumstances to the judge.  The fact that you live in the property won't make a difference to the ultimate outcome of the possession hearing. If the judge was going to give the property back to the bank, he or she will still do so, but they might allow you some extra time to find somewhere else to live. 

You should speak to your landlord now about what has happened to your deposit.  If your deposit was protected in one of the 3 approved schemes, make sure that you have your protection certificate and account numbers so you can claim this back when the property is repossessed.  If your deposit wasn't protected you'll need to negotiate with your landlord to get it back.  Until the property is repossessed, you still have to pay rent to your landlord so you could ask him if he'll let you miss a payment and use the deposit money to cover that month's rent.  Your landlord doesn't have to agree to this arrangement. 

Your rights depend on whether or not your tenancy has been authorised or approved by the bank that issued the mortgage on the property.  It can be difficult to figure out if the tenancy was authorised or not.  Look for letters from the courts or from the bank addressed to "The Tenant" and open these.  If the bank has written to "the tenant" it probably has given permission to your landlord to rent out the property.  

If the landlord has got permission from the bank to rent out this property, the bank will honour your tenancy agreement if it ends up repossessing the property.  This means that the bank will normally appoint a company to act as a receiver and you will be asked to pay rent to this company until the tenancy ends.  At the end of the tenancy, the bank may allow you to keep living there on a month by month basis or could issue you with written notice asking that you leave within 28 days.  It's probably best to start looking for somewhere else to live towards the end of the tenancy as you may not be able to continue living in your current home on a long term basis.

If you don't have a tenancy agreement the bank may decide to end your tenancy if the property is repossessed.  In order to end the tenancy, the bank has to give you written notice to quit.  The amount of notice you'll get depends on how long you've been living in the property, but will be a minimum of 4 weeks.   If you get a notice to quit letter, you will need to start looking for somewhere new to live.  You may be entitled to help from the Housing Executive or you could look for a new rented home.

You shouldn't panic about this.  Your landlord will remain the legal owner of the property until a possession order is enforced or the landlord chooses to return the keys of the property to the bank and is entitled to receive rent while he or she is still the legal owner.  

Talk to your landlord about your deposit.  If the deposit wasn't protected in a scheme, the landlord may agree to use this money to cover your next rent payment.  If the deposit was protected it will stay with the protection company until you leave the property. 

There have been big cuts to the grants system for homeowners in the past 5 to 10 years.  At the moment grants for repairs are only given out in very extreme circumstances, like if there is a risk that the person living in the property could be killed due to the condition of the property. 

If the repair problems in your property are causing fuel poverty you might be eligible for help from the Affordable Warmth Scheme or you might qualify for some of the heating and installation grants from private energy companies. 

Homeowners can get grants to help carry out adaptations to a property if the purpose of these adaptations is to make the home more suitable for someone with a disability. 

Check your tenancy agreement to see what you are supposed to do if you notice a problem in the property.  Your tenancy agreement should explain which repairs your landlord will deal with and which are your responsibility.

You should always notify your landlord in writing of any repairs that need to be dealt with.  Keep a copy of these letters for your own records.  In your letter explain what the problem is, when you first noticed it and how the problem is affecting you.  Ask the landlord to confirm receipt of your letter or email and to reply to you within a specific timeframe explaining how and when he intends to deal with the problem. 

If you're dissatisfied with the landlord's response, you should write again.  In this letter explain that the problem still hasn't been resolved and that you'll have no option but to report the matter to the council if the landlord doesn't reply to you within 7 days.  

You can ask the council to inspect your property.  The council officers can sometimes force a landlord to carry out certain repairs if they believe that the property is unfit or poses a risk to the health or safety of you or the general public. 

You should report any problems to your housing association or the Housing Executive immediately.  Explain exactly what the problem is, when you first noticed it and how it is affecting you and your household.  Make a note of who you spoke to about the problem, when you reported it and what they said would happen in response to your call.  Ask if your repair is classed as an urgent, emergency or routine repair.  The timeframe for dealing with the problem will depend on what class of repair it is. 

If you're unhappy with how your landlord has dealt with repairs, you can make a formal complaint.  You'll need to use your landlord internal complaints system to try to sort the problem out first.  If you're not happy with how your complaint has been dealt with, you may be able to complain to the Ombudsman. 

If you're having problems keeping up with the payments on your mortgage or secured loan it's important to get advice on your options.  The earlier you speak to someone about this problem the more options you'll usually have.  We have a team of mortgage debt advisers who can explain your options to you and represent you if you have to go to court for a repossession hearing. 

It's important to let your landlord know if you're going to miss a rent payment.  Landlords will often be more understanding if they know in advance that your rent will be late.  Your landlord can evict you if you've fallen behind on your rent, but most landlords would rather keep you on as long as you can repay the money that you owe. 

If you're on benefits or a low income you may qualify for housing benefit.  If you're already getting housing benefit but this doesn't cover your full rent, you could apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment. 

Talk to one of our advisers if you're finding it difficult to pay your rent.  The sooner you get advice, the sooner you can start dealing with this problem. 

 

 

Talk to your housing association or to the Housing Executive if you're having problems with your rent.  Your landlord may be able to put you in touch with someone who can help you manage your money better.  You can be evicted if you owe lots of rent, but your landlord should only start the eviction process if all other attempts to solve this problem fail.  We also help you if you've fallen behind on your rent and you're worried that you could lose your home.  

You can make a claim for housing benefit if you

  • have a legal responsibility to pay rent or rates
  • are eligible for social assistance
  • are on a low income and don't have assets valued at over £16,000. 

The Housing Executive will deal with claims for housing benefit from private tenants and tenants who live in Housing Executive or housing association properties.  Land & Property services deal with claims for housing benefit and rates relief from people who own their own homes and need help paying the rates. 

The system used to work out how much housing benefit you'll get depends on whether you rent your home from a private landlord or agent or from a social landlord, like the Housing Executive or a housing association. 

If you have savings or assets, these will be taken into account when working out how much benefit you'll get.  If your savings or assets are worth more than £6,000 the Housing Executive will start to deduct amounts from your housing benefit.  If your savings are over £16,000 you won't be entitled to any help.  Although you might not have the actual cash, sometimes the Housing Executive will treat things you own as an asset.  It's possible to get some of these assets disregarded. 

You should tell the Housing Executive if anything changes that could affect your housing benefit claim.  This includes someone joining or leaving your household, someone reaching a significant birthday, increasing or decreasing your hours or wages or stopping paying for childcare. These types of changes could mean that the amount of housing benefit you get will increase or decrease. Let the Housing Executive know about any change in your circumstances just so you know that your claim is kept up to date. 

The Housing Executive can claim benefits back from you if they paid these in error.  This might happen if they find out that someone was living with you that they didn't know about or that your income changed and they weren't told.  The Housing Executive and the other benefits office don't share information, so make sure you tell your housing benefit office about any changes as well as the social security office.   

If you feel that the Housing Executive has made a mistake or a wrong decision about your claim you can ask that they revise this decision.  It's best to speak to an adviser before doing this so you can figure out if there has been a mistake made. 

Private tenants who get housing benefit often end up with a shorftall between the amount of benefit they get and how much rent they have to pay. You can apply for some extra housing benefit if you're in this situation, but there's no guarantee that you'll get it.  This is called a Discretionary Housing Payment.  It's important to keep really good records and receipts for any extra cash payments you make to your landlord to cover your rent shortfall. 

 

Renting privately is one of the most common types of housing situation for people in Northern Ireland.  There's lots of advice on our website about the different issues you might experience when you're a private tenant.  Tenants who ask us for help often want advice on repairs and on deposits, but the site covers lots of other information too.   If you've decided to leave a private tenancy, it's really important that you follow the correct legal process. You can't just leave a property without notifying your landlord, even if you feel the property is in a bad condition or not what you had signed up for.

 

It can be difficult to find free advice and guidance for landlords who rent out properties in Northern Ireland.  The first thing you have to do if you're a landlord is to register your details with the NI Landlord Registrar.  This is a legal requirement and any person who is named as an owner on a rented property must register their details.  Landlords have other legal responsibilities too.  There's a large section on our website which deals with this.  

If you want to learn more about managing a rental portfolio, you might want to look at the training courses that are available for landlords in Northern Ireland.  Training is provided by Housing Rights and other organisations.  The Landlords' Association of Northern Ireland provides information to its members and regular briefing events. 

If you're finding it difficult to manage in your tenancy a Floating Support service may be able to help. 

These services can help you to solve problems in your tenancy and to keep on top of things like your money management, claiming your benefits and looking after your accommodation. There are lots of different floating support services in Northern Ireland, and the one that is right for you will depend on where you live and on your particular needs and circumstances.

You can search for support in your area on the Housing Executive's website. This search shows all the different agencies who can help and explains who can get help from each service.