The Isle of Wight Council currently undertakes Accommodation Certificate inspections for those persons wishing to sponsor a third party to enter and live in the United Kingdom (UK). For those wishing to apply for an Accommodation Certificate for their property, an inspection is required and there is a procedure to follow in order to have an inspection undertaken.

An inspection is required to check the property would not become overcrowded, and to see if there are any hazards present (assessed using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System HHSRS) and the severity of those hazards, if present.

In order to apply for an inspection, an application form must be completed, with all details required by the form being provided by the sponsor, including information about the person wishing to enter the UK and the property in question. The application form can be found here.

In addition to the completed application form, proof of tenure (property ownership or tenancy) must also be completed. If you are an owner occupier, you will need to provide proof of property ownership by taking a proof of ownership form to your Solicitor or Bank/ Building society (or other suitably qualified person) and the form to be completed can be found here. It is also acceptable to provide evidence from the Land Registry.

If you are the tenant of the property, you are required to provide a copy of the current Tenancy Agreement that you have for the property, along with a current copy of the Gas Safety Certificate (if you have gas using appliances) at the property. You will also be required to ask your Landlord to sign and complete a Landlords Consent form, that can be found here.

All sponsors are also requested to provide proof of occupation in the form of a utility bill or bank statement linked to the address.

Please be aware that if you do not provide all of the relevant documents at the point of submission, it may prolong your application.

Once a full application for an inspection has been received (including all relevant information) you will, within a period of 14 days, be contacted by a Housing Renewal Officer to arrange a time and date to undertake an inspection of the property. Please note that if you are in rented accommodation, contact will be made with your Landlord to advise of access to the property.

Following the inspection the Housing Renewal Officer will write to you advising you of the outcome of your inspection, this letter being the Accommodation Certificate, and will forward a copy to the relevant Embassy dealing with your application. The Housing Renewal Officer will also at this point write to your Landlord (if renting) or yourself (if owner occupier) to advise of any deficiencies in the property leading to exposure to hazards. It MUST be noted that failure to satisfactorily attend to serious hazards may result in an enforcement notice being served to either rectify the hazard or formally raise awareness of it.

Please view online guidance notes here.