Accommodation Requirement for Spouse Visa: Complete Guide
The accommodation requirement in the words of Appendix FM, and the two statutory overcrowding standards behind it. What the Rules require, what the Housing Act 1985 actually counts, and what evidence goes with each living arrangement.
- Section
- Spouse & Partner Visa
- Reading time
- 10 min
- Last checked
- 3 September 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- The rule covers everyone in the household, including people not on the application.
- 'Own or occupy exclusively' — renting and living with family both qualify.
- Inadequate means overcrowded, or contravening public health regulations. The second limb is often forgotten.
- Overcrowding is measured by Part X of the Housing Act 1985, which has a room standard and a space standard.
- The space standard's permitted number is the lower of the room-count figure and the floor-area figure.
- Child under 1: not counted. Child aged 1 to 9: half a person. Under the room standard, under 10s are left out.
- The requirement is tested again at extension and at settlement.
The requirement is short: adequate accommodation, without recourse to public funds, for everyone in the household, which the family own or occupy exclusively. What makes it more than a formality is the definition of inadequate — overcrowded, or contravening public health regulations — because overcrowding has a statutory meaning with two separate tests, and the permitted number is the lower of the two.
The rule
Paragraph E-LTRP.3.4 of Appendix FM reads, in full:
"The applicant must provide evidence that there will be adequate accommodation, without recourse to public funds, for the family, including other family members who are not included in the application but who live in the same household, which the family own or occupy exclusively, unless paragraph EX.1. applies: accommodation will not be regarded as adequate if— (a) it is, or will be, overcrowded; or (b) it contravenes public health regulations."
Paragraph E-ECP.3.4 says the same for an application for entry clearance from outside the UK, without the reference to paragraph EX.1. Four things in that wording do the work:
- "For the family, including other family members who are not included in the application but who live in the same household." The count is of the whole household, not the applicants. A sponsor's parents or siblings living in the same house are part of the sum.
- "Own or occupy exclusively." Ownership is one way, not the requirement. The family must have accommodation available to them, with part of it for their exclusive use.
- "Without recourse to public funds." Accommodation obtained through public funds does not satisfy the rule — see our public funds entry.
- "Or it contravenes public health regulations." A second, separate limb, which most accounts of the requirement omit entirely. Accommodation may be roomy and still fail on it.
Overcrowding has a statutory meaning
The Home Office assesses overcrowding by Part X of the Housing Act 1985. Section 324 makes a dwelling overcrowded if it breaches either of two standards. They are separate tests, and failing one is enough.
The room standard, section 325
Breached where the number of people sleeping in the dwelling and the number of rooms available as sleeping accommodation are such that two people of opposite sexes who are not living together as a married couple or civil partners must sleep in the same room.
Children under 10 are left out of account. A room counts as available as sleeping accommodation if it is of a type normally used in the locality as a bedroom or as a living room.
The space standard, section 326
Breached where the number of people sleeping in the dwelling exceeds the permitted number. The permitted number is worked out two ways, and the answer is whichever is lower.
By number of rooms available as sleeping accommodation:
- 1 room — 2 people
- 2 rooms — 3 people
- 3 rooms — 5 people
- 4 rooms — 7.5 people
- 5 or more rooms — 10 people, plus 2 more for each room above 5
By floor area of each room:
- 110 square feet or more — 2 people
- 90 to under 110 square feet — 1.5 people
- 70 to under 90 square feet — 1 person
- 50 to under 70 square feet — half a person
- Under 50 square feet — none; the room does not count
For the space standard, a child under 1 is not counted at all and a child aged 1 to 9 counts as half a person.
Why the two tests together matter
A three-bedroom house has a room-count permitted number of 5 if all three bedrooms and no living room are counted. But if one of those rooms is 60 square feet, the floor-area figure for it is half a person, which pulls the total down. The lower figure wins. That is why counting bedrooms alone is not a safe way to answer the question.
What evidence goes with which arrangement
Appendix FM-SE does not specify documents for accommodation the way it does for income, so this is a matter of showing that the rule is met rather than producing a fixed list. What each arrangement has to establish is the same three things: what the property is, that the family may live in it, and who else lives there.
Renting
- The tenancy agreement, showing the address, the tenants and the term.
- Where the agreement does not name the incoming partner, a letter from the landlord confirming they may live there.
- A description of the property: the number of rooms available as sleeping accommodation, and their floor areas where the space standard is close.
Owning
- The deeds, a mortgage statement, or a Land Registry title.
- A council tax bill or utility bill for the address.
- The same description of the property.
Living in someone else's home
- A letter from the owner or tenant confirming the couple may live there and which part of the property is theirs.
- Evidence that person is entitled to allow it — their own deeds or tenancy agreement. A tenancy that forbids additional occupants is the thing to check before applying.
- The names and ages of everyone already living there. This is the part most often left out, and without it the overcrowding calculation cannot be done at all.
Where a document is not in English or Welsh, paragraph 1(j) of Appendix FM-SE requires the original plus a full, dated translation confirming it is accurate and naming the translator.
Applying from outside the UK
The rule is written in the future tense — "there will be adequate accommodation" — so accommodation does not have to be occupied at the date of application. What has to be shown is that it will be available. A signed tenancy agreement for a property to be moved into, or a letter from a family member with the household details, does that. An intention to look for somewhere does not.
Social housing
The bar is on accommodation held through recourse to public funds, not on social housing as such. Housing allocated by a local authority counts as a public fund; where the sponsor already holds a social tenancy in their own right, the question is whether the tenancy permits the additional occupant and whether the property is overcrowded once they move in. Both are questions for the housing provider before the application is made, not after it.
At extension and at settlement
The same requirement is tested again. At extension it is paragraph E-LTRP.3.4 in its own right. At settlement it comes in through paragraph E-ILRP.1.3, which requires the E-LTRP eligibility requirements to be met. By then the couple is living in the UK, so the evidence is what already exists: the current tenancy agreement or mortgage statement, bills for the address, and the household composition.
Where the requirement cannot be met, paragraph EX.1 is named in E-LTRP.3.4 itself as the exception. Our entry on exceptional circumstances sets out what that involves and why it leads to a longer route to settlement.
Related entries
Questions and answers
What exactly does the rule say?
Paragraph E-LTRP.3.4 of Appendix FM: the applicant must provide evidence that there will be adequate accommodation, without recourse to public funds, for the family, including other family members not included in the application but living in the same household, which the family own or occupy exclusively. Accommodation is not adequate if it is or will be overcrowded, or if it contravenes public health regulations.
Do we have to own the property?
No. The rule says 'own or occupy exclusively'. Renting satisfies it, and so does living in someone else's home where part of it is for the family's exclusive use. What the rule excludes is accommodation that is not available to the family at all, or that is only available through public funds.
How is overcrowding measured?
By Part X of the Housing Act 1985, which sets two separate standards. The room standard is breached where two people of opposite sexes who are not a couple must sleep in the same room, leaving children under 10 out of account. The space standard compares the number of people sleeping in the dwelling against a permitted number worked out two ways — by the number of rooms and by their floor area — and the permitted number is whichever of the two is lower.
How are children counted?
Under the space standard, a child under 1 is not counted at all, and a child aged 1 to 9 counts as half a person. Under the room standard, children under 10 are left out of account.
Does the requirement apply again later?
Yes. It appears at paragraph E-ECP.3.4 for entry clearance, at E-LTRP.3.4 for permission to stay, and applies at settlement because paragraph E-ILRP.1.3 requires the E-LTRP eligibility requirements to be met.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.