The Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Prospective

Calculation of income other than earnings N.I.

37.—(1) For the purposes of regulation 28, the income of a claimant which does not consist of earnings to be taken into account shall, subject to paragraphs (2) to (5), be his gross income and any capital treated as income under regulation 38.

(2) There shall be disregarded from the calculation of a claimant’s gross income under paragraph (1), any sum, where applicable, specified in Schedule 6.

(3) Where the payment of any benefit under the benefit Acts is subject to any deduction by way of recovery the amount to be taken into account under paragraph (1) shall be the gross amount payable.

(4) Where an award of any working tax credit or child tax credit under the Tax Credits Act is subject to a deduction by way of recovery of an overpayment of working tax credit or child tax credit which arose in a previous tax year the amount to be taken into account under paragraph (1) shall be the amount of working tax credit or child tax credit awarded less the amount of that deduction.

(5) Paragraph (6) applies where—

(a) a relevant payment has been made to a person in an academic year; and

(b) that person abandons, or is dismissed from, his course of study before the payment to him of the final instalment of the relevant payment.

(6) The amount of a relevant payment to be taken into account for the assessment period for the purposes of paragraph (1) in respect of a person to whom paragraph (5) applies, shall be calculated by applying the formula—

where—

A

=

the total amount of the relevant payment which that person would have received had he remained a student until the last day of the academic term in which he abandoned, or was dismissed from, his course, less any deduction under regulation 61(5);

B

=

the number of benefit weeks from the benefit week immediately following that which includes the first day of that academic year to the benefit week which includes the day on which the person abandoned, or was dismissed from, his course;

C

=

the weekly amount of the relevant payment, before the application of the £10 disregard, which would have been taken into account as income under regulation 61(2) had the person not abandoned, or been dismissed from, his course and, in the case of a person who was not entitled to housing benefit immediately before he abandoned, or was dismissed from, his course, had that person, at that time, been entitled to housing benefit;

D

=

the number of benefit weeks in the assessment period.

(7) In paragraphs (5) and (6)—

“academic year” and “student loan” shall have the same meanings as for the purposes of Part VII;

“assessment period” means the period beginning with the benefit week immediately following that which includes the day on which the person abandoned, or was dismissed from, his course and ending with the benefit week which includes the last day of the last quarter for which an instalment of the relevant payment was payable to that person and for the purposes of this definition, “quarter” shall have the same meaning as for the purposes of the Education (Student Support) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005(1);

“relevant payment” means either a student loan or an amount intended for the maintenance of dependants referred to in regulation 56(7) or both.

(8) For the avoidance of doubt there shall be included as income to be taken into account under paragraph (1)—

(a) any payment to which regulation 32(2) applies; or

(b) in the case of a claimant who is receiving support under section 95 or 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act including support provided by virtue of regulations made under Schedule 9 to that Act, the amount of such support provided in respect of essential living needs of the claimant and his dependants (if any) as is specified in regulations made under paragraph 3 of Schedule 8 to the Immigration and Asylum Act.

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 37 in operation at 20.11.2006, see reg. 1(1)

(1)

S.R. 2005 No. 340