To apply for housing benefits, you must be 18 years of age or older.
To apply for housing benefits you need to have permanent registration in Iceland. If Immigration is processing your application and you have a system id, you will not be able to apply for housing benefits.
Lease
The lease has to be valid for at least 3 months.
The lease must be registered in the HMS Rent register.
Residence
You need to live and be registered with legal address in your place of rent.
An exception can be made if you can confirm that you are temporarily living elsewhere because of one of the following reasons:
studies (confirmation of admission from your school)
health problems (medical certificate)
stay in a halfway house (confirmation of your stay from the halfway house)
temporary employment away from legal residence (job contract)
If you are domiciled abroad, you are not eligible for housing benefits.
Household members
The number of people living in the household affects the right to benefits and the minimum income limit. You need to register every member of your household in your application, including children under 18.
If you have a child who stays with you 30 days or more per year, but does not have legal domicile with you, you can still register the child in your application. To confirm this we will need a copy of a visitation or custody agreement with the application.
Your landlord can not live in or have their domicile registered in the property you are renting.
Housing
The rented property must have at least 1 bedroom, private cooking facilities and a private bathroom. The apartment can not be in a business property.
You can get housing benefits if your rent a room in:
student housing or dormitory
housing resources for individuals with disabilities
a halfway house
Household members may not own the rented apartment or own a controlling interest in a company which owns the rented apartment.
It is only possible to have one approved application for housing benefits per property.
Service provider
Housing & Construction Authority