The Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

PART XIV Information from landlords and agents

Interpretation

105.  In this Part—

“the notice” means the notice prescribed in regulation 107(1)(b);

“relevant information” means such information as is prescribed in regulation 108;

“the requirer” means a person within regulation 106, who requires information pursuant to that regulation;

“the supplier” means an appropriate person who is required, pursuant to regulations 106 and 107, to supply relevant information and any person who is not so required is not, for the purpose of supplying information pursuant to section 119A of the Administration Act(1) and these Regulations, an appropriate person.

Requiring information

106.  Pursuant to section 119A of the Administration Act, where a claim is made to the Executive, on which a rent allowance may be awarded, then, in the circumstances prescribed in regulation 107, the Executive, or any person authorised to exercise any function of the Executive relating to housing benefit, may require an appropriate person to supply to the Executive or person relevant information, in the manner prescribed in regulation 109.

Circumstances for requiring information

107.—(1) A person is required to supply information in the following circumstances—

(a) he is an appropriate person in relation to any dwelling in respect of which—

(i) housing benefit is being paid to an appropriate person pursuant to regulation 92 or 93, or

(ii) a request has been made by an appropriate person or by the claimant for housing benefit to be so paid; and

(b) the requirer serves upon that appropriate person, whether by post or otherwise, a written notice stating that the requirer—

(i) suspects that there is or may be an impropriety in relation to a claim in respect of any dwelling wherever situate in relation to which he is an appropriate person, or

(ii) is already investigating an allegation of impropriety in relation to that person.

(2) Information required to be supplied under paragraph (1) shall be supplied to the requirer at the address specified in the notice.

Relevant information

108.—(1) The information the supplier is to supply to the requirer is that prescribed in paragraphs (2) and (3) (referred to in this Part as “ the relevant information”).

(2) For a supplier who falls within paragraph (4) or section 119A(2)(b) of the Administration Act (“the landlord”), the information is—

(a) where the landlord is an individual—

(i) his appropriate details;

(ii) the relevant particulars of any residential property in which he has an interest, and

(iii) the appropriate details of any body corporate, in which he is a major shareholder or of which he is a director and which has an interest in residential property;

(b) where the landlord is a trustee, except a trustee of a charity, in addition to any information that he is required to supply in accordance with sub-paragraph (a) or (c), as the case may be, the relevant particulars of any residential property held by the trust of which he is a trustee and the name and address of any beneficiary under the trust or the objects of that trust, as the case may be;

(c) where the landlord is a body corporate or otherwise not an individual, other than a charity—

(i) its appropriate details;

(ii) the relevant particulars of any residential property in which it has an interest;

(iii) the names and addresses of any directors of it;

(iv) the appropriate details of any person—

(aa) who owns 20 per cent. or more of it; or

(bb) of whom it owns 20 per cent. or more, and

(v) the names and addresses of its major shareholders;

(d) where the landlord is a charity the appropriate details relating to the landlord.

(3) For a supplier who falls within section 119A(2)(c) of the Administration Act or paragraph (5) (“the agent”), the information is—

(a) the name and address of any person (“his principal”)—

(i) to whom the agent has agreed to make payments in consequence of being entitled to receive relevant payments, or

(ii) for whom the agent is acting on behalf of or in connection with any aspect of the management of a dwelling,

as the case may be;

(b) the relevant particulars of any residential property in respect of which the agent—

(i) has agreed to make payments in consequence of being entitled to receive relevant payments, or

(ii) is acting on behalf of his principal in connection with any aspect of its management;

(c) where the agent is an individual—

(i) the relevant particulars of any residential property in which he has an interest;

(ii) the appropriate details of any body corporate or any person otherwise not an individual, in which he is a major shareholder or of which he is a director and which has any interest in residential property; or

(d) where the agent is a body corporate or other than an individual—

(i) the relevant particulars of any residential property in which it has an interest;

(ii) the names and addresses of any directors of or major shareholders in the agent, and

(iii) the appropriate details of any person—

(aa) who owns 20 per cent. or more of the agent; or

(bb) of whom the agent owns 20 per cent. or more.

(4) A supplier falls within this paragraph (landlord receiving rent), if he falls within section 119A(2)(a) of the Administration Act, but does not fall within paragraph (5).

(5) A supplier falls within this paragraph (agent receiving the rent), if he falls within subsection (2)(a) of section 119A of the Administration Act and has agreed to make payments, in consequence of being entitled to receive relevant payments, to a person falling within subsection (2)(b) of that section.

(6) For the purposes of this regulation—

“appropriate details” means the name of the person and (in the case of a company) its registered office and, in any case, the full postal address, including post code, of the principal place of business of that person and the telephone and facsimile number (if any) of that place;

“charity” has the same meaning as in the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 1964(2);

“major shareholder” means, where a body corporate is a company limited by shares, any person holding one tenth or more of the issued shares in that company and, in any other case, all the owners of that body;

“relevant particulars” means the full postal address, including post code, and number of current lettings of or within that residential property and, if that property includes 2 or more dwellings, that address and the number of such lettings for each such dwelling;

“residential property” includes any premises, situate within the United Kingdom—

(i)

used or which has, within the last 6 months, been used, or

(ii)

which may be used or is adapted for use,

as residential accommodation,

and other expressions used in this regulation and also in the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(3) shall have the same meaning in this regulation as they have in that Order.

Manner of supply of information

109.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the relevant information shall be supplied—

(a) in typewritten or printed form; or

(b) with the written agreement of the requirer, in electronic or handwritten form,

within a period of 4 weeks commencing on the date on which the notice was sent or given.

(2) Where—

(a) within a period of 4 weeks commencing on the date on which the notice was sent or given, the supplier requests that the time for the supply of the relevant information be extended; and

(b) the requirer provides written agreement to that request,

the time for the supply of the relevant information shall be extended to a period of 8 weeks commencing on the date on which the notice was sent or given.

Criminal offence

110.  Any failure by the supplier to supply relevant information to the requirer as, when and how required under this Part shall be an offence under section 107 of the Administration Act(4) and there may be recovered from the supplier, on summary conviction for this offence, penalties not exceeding—

(a) for any one offence, level 3 on the standard scale; or

(b) for an offence of continuing any such failure after conviction, £40 for each day on which it is so continued.

(1)

Section 119A was inserted by Article 10 of the Social Security Administration (Fraud) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

(2)

1964 c. 33 (N.I.)

(3)

S.I. 1986/1032 (N.I. 6)

(4)

Section 107 was substituted by Article 56 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1506 N.I. 10)) and amended by paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/671), paragraph 7 of Schedule 6 to the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2000 and Schedule 2 to the National Insurance Contributions and Statutory Payments Act 2004 (c. 3)