Housing.

I live in a 1 bedroom flat and want my wife and son live with me, i see you need to get a letter from the council you rent the flat from, so i called them and asked if it would be ok but they said the flat with be overcrowed, so would need a overcrowded assesment when they was here, so i would not be able get letter from them saying it is ok they live here, i was wondering would it be ok to say we would live with my sister has she has a 4 bedroom home and 2 living rooms and said its ok to say we live there and give us her documents to help us.

I would not live there but just wanted to show the UKBI we have a place to live, do you think it would be ok or do's it need to be living with your parents.Sorry for the long post and be grafeful of any replies,

Deano.

Your on dodgy ground deano given that your going to be still renting a one bed what stops you moving?

You need to provide documents showing your address, eg bank statements and so on.

I was hoping to just say staying at sister home has she owns it then when wife here then asking council if can move has they said they can not move me till they are here.

Thanks for the replies.

catch 22

This is a puzzle for me.
I have never known any landlord or council to cry overcrowding when the accommodation is a 1-bedroom flat.
A first for me.

You're in a bit of a catch 22 here. You need a written statement from the owner (Council) that you have permisssion to live there together with your partner. The council will not issue one until they have undertaken an overcrowding test.

As far as UKVI and the visa application is concerned if you have a 1 bedroom flat then that's fine for 2 people.
The UKVI are only working with the 'Room Standard', but if your council doesn't want to accept that and insist that there's overcrowding. You'll be stuck.
Maybe the council are going to measure up the floor space that MAY be used for sleeping.
What's the floor area of your bedroom ?

If you propose to move into your sisters house that'll be shared accommodation and you'll need an independent property report. That report will also consider both the 'Room Standard' and the 'Space Standard'.
Luckily, here again the UKVI will only consider the 'Room Standard' so you'll be OK.

Better to get the council moving on their assessment and see what happens.

You can apply to your local council for housing if you're overcrowded.
Hopefully you'll to be given more priority if you are considered legally overcrowded.
Some councils have developed their own rules to decide just how how overcrowded you are if there's a shortage of larger properties in the area.

At the end of the day do not do anything about giving up your flat until the council has made it's decision on what they will do. Even it means living with your sister for a while.

It's for 3 people, not 2. Deano wants his son there too.

If there are 2 rooms then it's fine for UKVI, as one room could be a bedroom for the son and the other as a "bedsit". I think it can also depend on whether or not the kitchen is open plan with the living room though. I think they have to be seperate. (I remember the guy who did our survey telling me this).

Whoops! I've realised I misread the first sentence of your post.

Sorry to say, yes based on both your wife and son living with you your council are probably correct.
Does depend on the total space available for sleeping and also the age of the child, but it's a very tight situation all round.
Sorry for my misleading response

I looked on the site UKVI for accommodation and they give an example for a 1 bedroom flat and say 3 people are allowed to live there has count living room for place to sleep and son is 6 years old so only counts has half. I have a 1 bedrom and seperate living room and seperate kitchen and bathroom.

Take a look here under section 12 Overcrowding.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...tion-maa/maintenance-and-accommodation-maa--2

To stay where you are you do need to have written agreement from your council regardless of UKVI immigration rules.
But no harm at all to explain the UKVI requirement. Print it out and show them.

Also take a look here under section 7.4 and also at the top of page 18 where UKVI specifically state:-

"For immigration purposes we do not look at the floor area for each room as it is complex to evidence and assess. We focus on the number of permitted occupants based on the number of rooms"

Thanks for the replies has it helps me out alot and will print it to show them has need go to the offices and talk with them.

Very interesting.

I'm allowed two people in my 1 bed council OAP bungalow. No mention of kids.

This may be a new one for them.

(Big place though, with all separate rooms).

are there any age restrictions on your tenancy graham ?

Nope...as long as one of us is 60+.

... Not that I really want to bring them to this miserable country...but who knows.

If can not get letter from council would i be ok to say we will live with my sister has she owns her own house.

you need to have that as your address--so all mail goes there. cant have one address on your application--yet say you live somewhere else--can you.

Yes, you could do that.

You'll still need to have a letter from the owner or landlord ( your sister ? ) giving permission for you all to stay there.
You'll also need to submit an independent property inspection report because you'll be living in shared accommodation.

Thanks for that Micawber, its put my mind at ease that can use sister if can not sort anything out with the council. What are all the documents i would need from her if was going down that route.