baltar42

Best thing to do is to walk into a local Job Centre (they usually handle issuing temporary and permanent NI numbers).
I called the number and was given an appointment. It takes a few weeks to issue a new NI number for you (if they can't find the old one), but in the meantime they'll give you a temporary one to use.

cdfergus

Thanks, I shall do that

LondonSquirrel

I didn't think temporary NI numbers had been used for years. Certainly employers and the HMRC don't use them any more. I work in payroll and if somebody doesn't have an NI number, that field is just left blank by HR.

The temporary number used to be TN plus date of birth in format DDMMYY plus F for female or M for male eg TN010780F

mrken30

There is a difference. Council houses have cheap subsidized rent. Housing provided by the local authroity via housing associations charge market rent. So being supplied housing through the local authority is not always good unless you are on benefits.

For example the studio flat we were renting out privately in Heathrow was being charged back to the local council for just over £800, privately rented it was under £700 for the same type of flat.

Reason being is that for landlords to be able to rent direct to council tenants they have to go through a management agent who take 15%-20%

London councils do work slightly differently to other parts of the country.

verystormy

That makes nil difference. There are tens of thousands of empty properties, but getting one allocated is another thing.

We looked at it last year. Both British citizens, already living in the UK and satisfied the habitual residence test - something the OP won't - and best case was if we're were happy to live anywhere we would be looking at 4+ years. I also have a disabled spouse and am myself registered disabled, which gives a higher priority. Both about to become homeless.

I have staff in Scotland where I now work who are desperate for a council house or flat. All Scottish born and bred. With children and some with a number of other issues such as caring for elderly parents or a disabled spouse. They have been on the list a decade plus.

baltar42

Hi

I was issued a permanent NI number in 2011. I was given a temporary one to use prior to that (whilst I was in the process of obtaining a permanent one). It wasn't a problem back then, but I'm not sure if it's been scrapped since. If it has been scrapped, then there must be a replacement procedure (to the temporary NI number) for those who arrive in the UK for work, but who do not yet have an NI number.

Anyway, in my experience, the Job Centre staff were really helpful and I received my permanent NI number a few weeks after I'd visited them.

scot47

Verystormy
Housing Associations in my area have available properties and will let them to suitable tenants. The issue in m this area of rural Scotland is that deindustrialisation has destroyed so many jobs that there is no work for people here !

Send me a pm and I will put you in touch with the associations of which I speak !

quiltman

I thought if you started a job in the UK and do not have an NI number, that one is allocated on the employers first return to HMRC. The job Centre is a good place to start as others have said.

BristolUK

It's been a good few years since I had anything to do with NINOs but from googling it seems not that much has changed.

HMRC never did issue temporary NINOs. Although they had the responsibility for issuing NINOs since sometime in the 1990s, the interviews and form completion remained the responsibility of DWP (Job centres), the government organisation who did it all before the tax folk took over responsibility. It was them issuing the TNs in the form you mention.

Good for your employer in being able to leave the NINO field blank but not all employers are the same though. Some have computer systems that just will not accept blanks. Something has to go there and a TN works.

Many employers mistakenly believe a NINO gives someone the right to work. Conversely some wrongly believe the absence means someone cannot work.

You don't need an agency to apply but this is from NI-Apply from this year.
University of Salford, page updated July 2016
Googling brings up countless similar results.

Sometimes you are in the hands of employers and unfortunately many work with misinformation. It's of little use to know the absence of a NINO doesn't mean you can't work, if the employer doesn't let you start.

The problem was so common that my DWP office produced a form letter stating that a NINO was not necessary.

A temporary number, just to get beyond the computer problem is such a simple solution. Great if the computer accepts no input.

Ever used a contact box on a website and have it absolutely insist on your phone number or you can't send off the query?

It will accept an obviously wrong phone number, as long as there's an entry. Rather like an employer with a TNxxxxxxM

LondonSquirrel

The 'no NI number = no job' is not the only common misconception. Another one we often hear is 'no P45 = no job'.' Ex-employees often say that to us when they phone to enquire after their P45. Or they say their new employer won't pay them without it. Of course it's nonsense. They can fill out a 'starter checklist.' New staff coming from abroad would obviously not have a P45.

BristolUK

cdfergus