Skip to main content

When Your Address History Is Not Straightforward

Learn how to record a DBS address history when it isn’t straightforward, such as for students, overseas periods, no fixed abode, Armed Forces service, or other complex living situations, while still covering a full five‑year period.

Written by Ben Nicholas

Your address history may not fit a simple “one address after another” pattern. This is common.

Examples include:

  • Students who:

    • Live at a university address during term time, and

    • Live at a parents’ or family home between terms.

  • People who have:

    • Worked away from home

    • Lived on a canal boat, cruise ship, or merchant vessel

    • Lived overseas

    • Lived in a refuge or sheltered accommodation

    • Been in prison

    • Had no fixed abode

    • Been a member of HM Armed Forces

You still need to give a full five‑year history, but how you record these situations may differ.

Did this answer your question?