living with my mother and sister in 4 bedroom house owned by council mother is tenancy holder im lodger ,council have given a letter off granted permission for my wife and daughter (2) who holds british passport to stay as long its not overcrowded ,booked immigration inspection for next week what to expect ? and for visa process this good enough for the application rooms are over 50sq feet
I have not experienced an inspection myself but I would imagine it will be straight forward enough, they should give you some paper work which you can submit with your visa application. All they are trying to do is establish whether or not the property is suitable for the number of people living there. Nothing to worry about and there will not be any comebacks from the UKVI if you have had the survey done, wise move going for the survey given your circumstances.
I assume the inspection is by the Council, rather than an independent company? I got the Council to do the property inspection, even though I own my house outright. They completely ignored the Housing Act and only considered Health & Safety legislation. Quite arbitrarily, they decided that 2.5 persons could live in the property even though both bedrooms were over 50 square feet and I have a sizeable lounge as well. I got them to write down the sizes of the room is the report, even though they don't normally do that, even though they do measure to room size. If I had a child to bring to the UK and the report did not state the bedroom size the the visa applications would have probably failed. Under the Housing Act 1985, my property is suitable for 5 people as I have two bedrooms and a lounge (which can also be used for sleeping) and all are over 50 square feet.
I have a 1 bedroom flat i rent from council, would that be ok for me and my wife and son or will they say its overcrowded. Thanks for any replies.
I would advise that you have a survey done. You can read the details of the space requirements and the room requirements if you google "housing act 1985 Section X" but given that you only have one bedroom, the age of the child, the size of the room becomes a factor. This is because children past a certain age are not permitted to share the parents bedroom. This would mean your living room would have to 'officially' double as sleeping accomodation. One requirement for that I seem to remember is that the room can not be 'walked through' to get to another room. I would get the property inspection done by an independent suveyor who is familiar with immigration requirements. Whether the council ignored the law when doing a survey or not does not mean that the UKVI would do the same. They are interested in knowing whether the requirements of the statutes are likely to be violated. I wouldn't give them a reason to reject your application. My survey cost me less than two hundred quid (I can't remember exactly) and was over in twenty minutes. I used these people but there are others. http://www.hussainarchitecture.co.uk/#!spouse-visa-property-check/c1d34
I used these: http://www.propertyinspectionreport.co.uk/ An inspection report is a good idea as it covers you more fully on accomodation.
Your tenancy agreement will give you that information (number of permitted occupants). I would expect it to be two people maximum. Ring your housing department.
As a footnote to that, you will have to include your tenancy agreement in the application and if that contains a bar to the occupancy as implied above, then of course you have a problem. I was also advised to include a letter from the landlord granting permission for the new occupiers to reside in the property.
Generally speaking the agreement from the council will normally be sufficient to cover adequate accomodation requirements under the conditions mentioned As Howerd mentions, the local council may also agree to do a full report for a small fee Independent reports are a must when renting a room in a 'shared house' As always do what you feel comfortable with and gives minimum risk As a legally recognised lodger/tenant you'll need to provide the agreement.
