What Housing Rights does#
Housing Rights says it helps people in Northern Ireland live in safe, suitable and affordable homes. It advises on homelessness, social and private tenancies, rent and mortgage arrears, repossession and repairs, and runs specialist work for young people at risk of homelessness, people seeking asylum, people experiencing domestic abuse and people in prison. It also has a landlord advice line, a housing mediation service and training for housing professionals. It is registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
Helpline, chat and prison advisers#
Its get advice page offers a housing advice helpline and live chat, both on weekdays from 9.30am to 4.30pm, and an online form that it aims to answer within three working days; you may be given a caseworker. Its court duty scheme gives free help on the day to people facing repossession. Each prison in Northern Ireland has a Housing Rights adviser, reached through prison staff, who can help you keep your home while in custody or find somewhere to live on release. It advises on Northern Ireland only, and points people elsewhere to Shelter, Shelter Scotland, Shelter Cymru or services in the Republic of Ireland.
Three pages worth reading before a change#
Housing Rights publishes nothing about deed polls or changing your name. Three of its pages are relevant all the same:
- Leaving an abusive home. Its domestic abuse page suggests a safety plan that includes taking important documents, such as medical cards, birth certificates and passports, and bank cards, and opening a separate bank account in your own name. Those documents are what you will need later to have a new name accepted.
- Homelessness assessment. It explains that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive decides whether someone is homeless and may ask for your most recent address and proof of your situation.
- Social tenancies. Its page on changing your tenancy says most changes need your landlord's permission first. It does not mention names; a new name on its own does not change who holds the tenancy, but the landlord will want a copy of the deed or certificate to update its records.
A new name and your home in Northern Ireland#
nidirect gives two routes: a deed poll, open to anyone, or, if you were born or adopted in Northern Ireland, a change recorded with the General Register Office for Northern Ireland. Changing your name in Northern Ireland compares them. For housing, write to your landlord, whether the Housing Executive, a housing association or a private landlord, with a copy, and ask for your tenancy and any rent account to be updated; changing the name on your tenancy agreement has the general steps, though some details there are for England. If you are on the waiting list, tell the Housing Executive so your application stays in one name.
For benefits, debt or anything beyond housing, Advice NI and its member services are the next step.
This page describes what Housing Rights publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Housing Rights has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
