When your home is overcrowded

There are rules about how many people can live in a property and who can share a room.

Your home could be overcrowded if either:

• there are not enough rooms

• the rooms are too small

If your home is overcrowded, you could get priority for social housing. If it's dangerously overcrowded, you may be legally homeless, and the council must help you.

Check if your home is overcrowded by law

The overcrowding rules apply to all homes, no matter if you rent or own your home.

Step 1: Check who can share a room

Your home is overcrowded if 2 or more people of different genders have to sleep in the same room, unless:

• they're a couple

• one or both of them is under 10 years old

People of the same gender can share a room at any age, as long as the room is big enough.

Step 2: Check how many people can live there

When counting how many people can live in your home, children are counted differently depending on their age:

• children under 1 year old are not counted

• children between 1 and 9 years old count as 0.5

The rules are based on the number of rooms and the size of the rooms.

Only bedrooms and living rooms count as rooms you can sleep in. Kitchens, bathrooms or rooms under 50 square feet do not count.

Number of rooms

Your home is overcrowded if there are not enough rooms for the number of people who live there.

Size of rooms

Your home is overcrowded if any of the rooms are too small for the number of people who have to sleep there.

The floor area is the length of the room multiplied by its width.

When overcrowding is allowed

You usually cannot move someone into your home if it will result in overcrowding.

Your home is allowed to be overcrowded if:

• you apply for the council’s permission, called licensed overcrowding

• there’s a guest staying with you for less than 16 days, called temporary overcrowding

• children have grown up in the home and reached the age of 1 or 10, called natural growth

What to do if your home is overcrowded

Ask the council for a housing options meeting if you need help finding somewhere else to live. They can help you with:

• finding another private let

• applying for a social home

• applying for a mid-market rent

You’ll usually get higher priority on council and housing association waiting lists if your home is overcrowded.

Some housing providers have their own overcrowding standards on top of the legal rules. This means you may get priority even if your home is not overcrowded by law. Ask for the housing allocations policy when you apply to check what priority you should get.

If you already rent from a council or housing association, you can try:

• applying for a transfer to a larger home

• swapping your home with another tenant

• applying to other councils and housing associations
  

If your home is dangerously overcrowded

You may be legally homeless if overcrowding is a danger to your health. For example, if your home has serious repair problems caused by overcrowded conditions.

You can apply as homeless to any council in Scotland.

Contact the council and say you need to make a homeless application. Tell them your home is overcrowded and explain how it’s affecting your health.

Your landlord has legal responsibilities to repair your home and make sure it's safe. Check our advice on repairs in your home.

If you're not a British or Irish citizen

Your right to homeless help and council housing depends on your immigration status. Check our advice on your housing options if you're not a British or Irish citizen.

If you're living in unsafe conditions, there are organisations that can help. Contact:

• Migrant Help UK if you've experienced trafficking or slavery

• TARA Scotland if you're a woman who's experienced trafficking

• the Scottish Refugee Council if you're seeking asylum or have refugee status