# Housing inspection for Uk Marriage Visa entry clearance..



## laurensciacca (Mar 16, 2011)

Hi,

As part of my application for a Uk Marriage Visa i have to submit a report of the property my husband and i will be living at. We'll be living with his aunt in Dumfries who owns her own house, Scotland when we first get there. The report is supposed to outline how many rooms there are, how big it is, how many people live there and the general condition of the property. They say these have to be carried out by a business or local council, however i cant find anywhere about local council offering this service unless the house is being let out, which it isnt as she lives there, and i cant seem to find any businesses that do the inspection, only inspections for selling a house, which are obvious too indepth and expensive and not the service we need. Has anyone else had this service done for their visa? Who did you go through?

Thanks

Lauren


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

laurensciacca said:


> Hi,
> 
> As part of my application for a Uk Marriage Visa i have to submit a report of the property my husband and i will be living at. We'll be living with his aunt in Dumfries who owns her own house, Scotland when we first get there. The report is supposed to outline how many rooms there are, how big it is, how many people live there and the general condition of the property. They say these have to be carried out by a business or local council, however i cant find anywhere about local council offering this service unless the house is being let out, which it isnt as she lives there, and i cant seem to find any businesses that do the inspection, only inspections for selling a house, which are obvious too indepth and expensive and not the service we need. Has anyone else had this service done for their visa? Who did you go through?


According to Maintenance & Accommodation (MAA), it doesn't say anywhere that a detailed official report is required, just a declaration of size, number of people living, ownership or tenancy etc.


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## Adrofex (Apr 8, 2011)

We had to do the same for my wife's application. We included the deeds for my dad's house, a plan detailing dimentions, and a written description of the house and rooms we would be using (accompanied by photos). We also included a letter signed by my Dad stating that he approved and was happy to have us residing at his address.

This was 2 years ago (for a Marriage Visa also).


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## laurensciacca (Mar 16, 2011)

Joppa said:


> According to Maintenance & Accommodation (MAA), it doesn't say anywhere that a detailed official report is required, just a declaration of size, number of people living, ownership or tenancy etc.



Yeah, ive hired a consultant from Marriage Visa Help . com, who has been really awesome, but she's strongly recommended we get this now as they're getting tighter with housing regulations and just having a letter from the owner saying they have a spare room and saying the house is in ok condition isnt good enough apparently as anyone could lie about it. Which is why they strongly recommended getting a housing inspection done by a separate business.


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## Beastie (Mar 16, 2010)

laurensciacca said:


> Yeah, ive hired a consultant from Marriage Visa Help . com, who has been really awesome, but she's strongly recommended we get this now as they're getting tighter with housing regulations and just having a letter from the owner saying they have a spare room and saying the house is in ok condition isnt good enough apparently as anyone could lie about it. Which is why they strongly recommended getting a housing inspection done by a separate business.


This is interesting ! I never knew that we need to have a housing inspection done !

I'm getting a bit worried now as I submitted my online visa application on 2 April and biometrics was done today. So it doesn't leave me a lot of time if I need to have this housing inspection done ! I have almost all of the rest of the documents already.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Beastie said:


> This is interesting ! I never knew that we need to have a housing inspection done !
> 
> I'm getting a bit worried now as I submitted my online visa application on 2 April and biometrics was done today. So it doesn't leave me a lot of time if I need to have this housing inspection done ! I have almost all of the rest of the documents already.


If they haven't specifically asked for a housing inspection, I wouldn't bother. There could be other facts and circumstances about lauren's application that warrant an independent inspection - or the visa advisor may just be earning a commission by sending clients to the inspection company. (Sorry, I'm a cynic in these matters.)
Cheers,
Bev


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## Beastie (Mar 16, 2010)

Bevdeforges said:


> If they haven't specifically asked for a housing inspection, I wouldn't bother. There could be other facts and circumstances about lauren's application that warrant an independent inspection - or the visa advisor may just be earning a commission by sending clients to the inspection company. (Sorry, I'm a cynic in these matters.)
> Cheers,
> Bev


Thanks Bev.  I didn't think that we would have a problem seeing that it's only my parents-in-law in a 3 bedroom property but reading about having to supply a housing inspection report caught me off-guard a little.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Beastie said:


> Thanks Bev.  I didn't think that we would have a problem seeing that it's only my parents-in-law in a 3 bedroom property but reading about having to supply a housing inspection report caught me off-guard a little.


This is the first time I've heard of housing inspection, and frankly with so many people having had their visa approved without it, I wouldn't bother either - unless UKBA specifically requests it after submitting your application. Since it's not mentioned in any of the official rules and guidelines, you cannot be expected to know about it and you won't be turned down for a visa just because you haven't supplied it. And I'd take what those visa agents say with a pinch of salt!


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## Beastie (Mar 16, 2010)

Joppa said:


> This is the first time I've heard of housing inspection, and frankly with so many people having had their visa approved without it, I wouldn't bother either - unless UKBA specifically requests it after submitting your application. Since it's not mentioned in any of the official rules and guidelines, you cannot be expected to know about it and you won't be turned down for a visa just because you haven't supplied it. And I'd take what those visa agents say with a pinch of salt!


Thanks Bev and Joppa for the reassurance.

I am following what the UKBA has asked for in terms of what is required of the supporting documents. So we have decided to proceed with submitting what they requested. I'm sure if they need further documents, they will contact us again.

Fingers crossed !!!


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## laurensciacca (Mar 16, 2011)

Bevdeforges said:


> If they haven't specifically asked for a housing inspection, I wouldn't bother. There could be other facts and circumstances about lauren's application that warrant an independent inspection - or the visa advisor may just be earning a commission by sending clients to the inspection company. (Sorry, I'm a cynic in these matters.)
> Cheers,
> Bev


There arent any facts or circumstances about my case out of the ordinary, im married to a scottish man who is a british citizen who is also an australian citizen. We're going to be living in his aunts privately owned house in scotland, it has 3 bedrooms and is quite large. The visa company has told me that this is something the council do, so no, they havent referred me to any clients for a commission. There is no reason for them to send me on a pointless mission, they have a flat 700 pound fee which ive paid up front and my visa consultant sent me a tonne of stuff that i have to put together, i can ask her any questions over the phone or email any time of the day for no cost and she always answers that day. She has also sent me a copy of one of these inspections another client had done by the local council in their shire.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

laurensciacca said:


> There arent any facts or circumstances about my case out of the ordinary, im married to a scottish man who is a british citizen who is also an australian citizen. We're going to be living in his aunts privately owned house in scotland, it has 3 bedrooms and is quite large. The visa company has told me that this is something the council do, so no, they havent referred me to any clients for a commission. There is no reason for them to send me on a pointless mission, they have a flat 700 pound fee which ive paid up front and my visa consultant sent me a tonne of stuff that i have to put together, i can ask her any questions over the phone or email any time of the day for no cost and she always answers that day. She has also sent me a copy of one of these inspections another client had done by the local council in their shire.


Ok, someone else has got one of those inspections done so your advisor recommends you do the same. But we still contend that it's likely to be wasted expense on your part, as so many other people have had their visa approved without such a report and it's the first time we've heard about it. 

If you really want to, go ahead but we are just quering why it's necessary. Visa guidance says that only in case of house in multiple occupation (HMO), where several families live under the same roof, an applicant can send a report on the size and occupancy of proposed accommodation:

_If Posts issue guidance to applicants on accommodation, they should make it clear that any qualified body independent of the applicant or sponsor may prepare a report confirming the status of the proposed accommodation, e.g. size, occupiers etc._

It further says:

_Only where overcrowding seems likely, and there is no other way of determining this, should an ECO need to write the local authority or landlord, or ask the applicant to provide such evidence. _

As you'll be living in a house owned by a relative with three bedrooms, there is no question of overcrowding so your description of accommodation should suffice.

£700 is a lot of money to pay on top of your visa fee, and I'm pretty sure you could have done it all yourself with help from official documents on UK visa site and from forum members. But it's your call.


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