Additional occupants

To be an additional occupant a person must:

• be aged 16 years or over
• be financially independent
• reside (or will reside) in social housing but not be an
  • applicable person or
  • a dependent child of an applicable person

To be considered as an additional occupant there must be a specific and established ongoing need to have them as part of the household (and not be considered a household in their own right). Generally, there is some form of dependency.

The person must also be a full-time member of the household.

Bedrooms are allocated for these people as they have an established need to be in the household.  If there is no established need for a person to be an additional occupant they will not be included in the application and their housing needs will not be considered (including allocating bedrooms).

Bedrooms are also allocated for any dependent children of the additional occupant.

Household members who have an established need to be part of the household as an additional occupant may include (but are not limited to):

• elderly parent or grandparent (aged over 65)
• non-dependent child  (who is 16 years of age or over) or other adult with a physical or mental health disability requiring care and support at home
• carer or support person (and any dependent children of the carer or support person)
• an adult child when it is reasonable for them to still live with their parents
  For example, it may be reasonable for an adult child to remain living with their parents and be considered an additional occupant if they are getting Student Allowance, working part-time or getting a Student Loan. It may not be reasonable for an adult child to remain living with their parents and considered an additional occupant if they are working full-time.
• young person getting Young Parent Payment or Youth Payment living in a stable boarding/family environment
• young person getting Young Parent Payment who is living at home with their parents

Note this is not a complete list - if assistance is required when considering whether there is an established need for the person to be part of the household, please contact Helpline.

When it has been determined a household member is an additional occupant, their income (and any income from their assessable assets) is not considered when assessing Income Related Rent. However, if they are making contributions to applicable persons to live in the house then 62% of those contributions are included in the calculation of Income Related Rent for the household.

Note the only people who have security of tenure at the property are the signatories. A person who is an additional occupant will not have any rights to continue the tenancy if the signatory leaves the tenancy.