EU restrictions to be lifted

From 1 January 2014 the UK’s transitional controls on citizens of Bulgaria and Romania (A2 countries) will come to an end. These controls have been in place since Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007. The lifting of restrictions means that citizens from those countries will be able to access all of the labour market and will no longer be subject to a Worker Authorisation Scheme (the Scheme). Under the terms of the Scheme, Bulgarians and Romanians are currently only able to access employment where there are skills shortages. Being subject to the Scheme also has implications for their entitlement to housing and homelessness assistance and Housing Benefit.

Housing and benefit entitlement

Once the restrictions are lifted, Romanians and Bulgarians will no longer be subject to the Scheme and will be able to work and seek work in the UK on the same basis as other European Economic Area (EEA) nationals. Those A2 nationals who:

• were subject to the Scheme and who have worked legally in the UK without interruption for 12 months in accordance with the Scheme, or
• were exempt from having to comply with the Scheme

will have the same rights and entitlements as other EEA nationals. This means that:

• if they are working – they will be entitled to all the same in-work benefits as UK citizens (e.g. child benefit) and will be entitled to housing and homelessness assistance;
• if they are out of work due to illness or accident – they may be able to retain their worker status and be able to claim out of work benefits (e.g. Income Support) and be entitled to housing and homelessness assistance;
• if they are jobseekers they can register with Jobcentre Plus and can claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (which can give entitlement to Housing Benefit) but they will not be entitled to assistance with housing or homelessness;
• if they are permanent residents – i.e. they have been resident in the UK for five years, they will be entitled to claim for any benefit and assistance with housing or homelessness.

UK's Position

There has been a lot of media speculation about how many Bulgarians and Romanians will come to the UK after 1 January 2014. As a result, the Government has announced plans to change the entitlement criteria for certain social security benefits. However, research shows that EU migrants are less likely to claim social security or seek social housing than UK born residents.  One study found that migrants from the 8 Member States which joined the EU in 2004 (A8s) were 60 % less likely to receive social security benefits than UK born residents and 58% less likely to live in social housing.[1]

Find out more

Housing Law in Practice (NI) (link) contains information on entitlements of migrants to housing and homelessness assistance and Housing Benefit. This will be fully updated with changes to the entitlements of A2 nationals in January.