MAA 14 - Overcrowding

[mheanRanola]

The Housing Act 1985 contains statutory definitions of overcrowding in residential housing. The ECO should bear in mind, as Pakistan 2004 UKAIT 000066 says, that adequacy of accommodation must be assessed on an individual basis. It is not enough to equate adequacy with overcrowding.

A house is considered to be overcrowded if 2 persons aged 10 years or more of opposite sexes, who are not living together as husband and wife, must sleep in the same room. The Act also details the maximum number of people allowed for a given number of rooms or a given room floor area.

Account is taken only of rooms with a floor area larger than 50 square feet and rooms of a type used either as a living room or bedroom.

Rooms such as kitchens or bathrooms are excluded.

Under the Housing Act, the number of people sleeping in accommodation must not exceed the following:


Number of rooms Maximum number
of people allowed

1 2
2 3
3 5
4 7.5
5 10

----------------------

living room can also considered as bedroom right??? so if there are 3 bedrooms and 1 living room it'll be counted as 4 and it can accommodate 7.5 person?? but only 5 is living in the house (all of them are my in-laws)... 6 including me (if ever)... a couple, 2 teenager (a boy and a girl) and my hubby... i don't know if its too risky or not but my hubby said that it'll will be considered as 4 bedroom house. we cant afford to rent our own flat at these moment we have no choice but to live with my in-laws.. we do have all the documents needed including the savings worth £4000 and he is currently working in a callcenter in central london for 1 1/2 year earning more than £1000 a month. Hope that will be okay.... I dont know if a have a chance for my visa to be granted but i really hope soo....

[joebloggs]

yes max of 7.5 people, but it also depends on who's living there, if they are married couples, babies or teenagers and what sex they are and the size of the floor area !

There are no hard and fast rules concerning overcrowding, i take it your in-laws would share one room, you and your hubby another, and you would expect the 2 teenagers to have their own room and not share with a married couple !.so 4 bedrooms are required.

Permitted Number of Persons

Having regard to the overcrowding legislation contained within the Housing Act 1985, which allows the following amount of minimum floor space per person in each room

Floor Area --------------------- Number of Persons

4.645sqm – 6.503sqm ------ 0.5
6.503sqm – 8.36sqm ------- 1
8.36sqm – 10.219sqm------- 1.5
10.219sqm and over ------ 2

but there is a risk of refusal if the ECO believes your home is only 3 bedrooms,therefore all 6 of you cant share 3 bedrooms, and as most families do not use the lounge as a bedroom. it could be inappropriate for you to do that as well especially if you intend to stay there for a long time.

borderline if you ask me, could go either way

[mheanRanola]

yes max of 7.5 people, but it also depends on who's living there, if they are married couples, babies or teenagers and what sex they are and the size of the floor area !

There are no hard and fast rules concerning overcrowding, i take it your in-laws would share one room, you and your hubby another, and you would expect the 2 teenagers to have their own room and not share with a married couple !.so 4 bedrooms are required.

Permitted Number of Persons

Having regard to the overcrowding legislation contained within the Housing Act 1985, which allows the following amount of minimum floor space per person in each room

Floor Area --------------------- Number of Persons

4.645sqm – 6.503sqm ------ 0.5
6.503sqm – 8.36sqm ------- 1
8.36sqm – 10.219sqm------- 1.5
10.219sqm and over ------ 2

but there is a risk of refusal if the ECO believes your home is only 3 bedrooms,therefore all 6 of you cant share 3 bedrooms, and as most families do not use the lounge as a bedroom. it could be inappropriate for you to do that as well especially if you intend to stay there for a long time.

borderline if you ask me, could go either way

thanks for the info mr.joe .... i know its too risky but we have no choice at the moment.... no problem with the floor area..the rooms are quite big... its 3 storey freehold house with garage and garden at the back... all we have is hope in our mind.. and still hoping that the ECO will consider our house as 4 bedroom house (including the living room *since his brother always stay awake late at night and always used to sleep there and still willing to sleep in living the room until we find our own place*. ) *fingers crossed*