The Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations 2017

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Interpretation

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2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016;

[F1“alternative finance arrangements” has the meaning given in paragraph 5(4) of Schedule 1 to these Regulations;]

“alternative finance payments” has the meaning given in paragraph 5(3) of Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

“applicable amount” means—

(a)

in the case of employment and support allowance, the claimant’s weekly applicable amount under regulations 67 to 70 of the ESA Regulations(1);

(b)

in the case of income support, the claimant’s weekly applicable amount under regulations 17 to 21AA of the IS Regulations(2);

(c)

in the case of jobseeker’s allowance, the claimant’s weekly applicable amount under regulations 83 to 86C of the JSA Regulations(3);

(d)

in the case of an SPC claimant, the claimant’s weekly appropriate minimum guarantee under section 2 of the State Pension Credit Act 2002(4);

(e)

in the case of a UC claimant, the maximum amount of a claimant’s award of universal credit under regulation 23(1) of the UC Regulations(5);

“assessment period” has the meaning given in regulation 21 of the UC Regulations(6);

“benefit unit” means a single claimant and his or her partner (if any) or joint claimants;

“benefit week” has the meaning given—

(a)

in the case of employment and support allowance, in regulation 2 of the ESA Regulations(7);

(b)

in the case of income support, in paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 to the Claims and Payment Regulations(8);

(c)

in the case of jobseeker’s allowance, in regulation 1 of the JSA Regulations(9);

(d)

in the case of state pension credit, in regulation 1 of the SPC Regulations(10);

“charge by way of legal mortgage” has the meaning given in section 132(1) of the Land Registration Act 2002(11);

“child” means a person under the age of 16;

“claimant” means a single claimant or each of joint claimants;

“Claims and Payment Regulations” means the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987(12);

“close relative” means a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, or, if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple;

[F2“conveyancer” means—

(a)

in England and Wales, a conveyancer within the meaning of rule 217A of the Land Registration Rules 2003;

(b)

in Scotland, a solicitor or advocate within the meaning of section 65 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980, or a conveyancing practitioner as defined in section 23 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990;]

“couple” means—

(a)

two people who are married to, or civil partners of, each other and are members of the same household;

(b)

two people who are not married to, or civil partners of, each other but are living together as a married couple or civil partners;

“disabled person” has the meaning given—

(a)

in the case of employment and support allowance, in paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 6 to the ESA Regulations(13);

(b)

in the case of income support, in paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 3 to the IS Regulations(14);

(c)

in the case of jobseeker’s allowance, in paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 2 to the JSA Regulations(15);

(d)

in the case of state pension credit, in paragraph 1(2)(a) of Schedule 2 to the SPC Regulations(16);

(e)

in the case of universal credit, in paragraph 14(3) of Schedule 3 to these Regulations;

“dwelling”—

(a)

in England and Wales, means a dwelling within the meaning of Part 1 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992(17);

(b)

in Scotland, means a dwelling within the meaning of Part 2 of that Act;

“earned income” has the meaning given in Chapter 2 of Part 6 of the UC Regulations;

“ESA Regulations” means the Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008(18);

“existing claimant” means a claimant who is entitled to a qualifying benefit, including an amount for owner-occupier payments, on 5th April 2018;

“financial year” has the meaning given in section 25(2) of the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011(19);

“income” means any income which is, or which is treated as, an individual’s, including payments which are treated as earnings, and which is not disregarded, under—

(a)

in the case of employment and support allowance, Part 10 of the ESA Regulations;

(b)

in the case of income support, Part 5 of the IS Regulations;

(c)

in the case of jobseeker’s allowance, Part 8 of the JSA Regulations;

(d)

in the case of state pension credit, Part 3 of the SPC Regulations;

“IS Regulations” means the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987(20);

[F3“joint claimants”—

(a)

in the case of jobseeker’s allowance means—

(i)

members of a joint-claim couple who have jointly made a claim for, and are entitled to, income-based jobseeker’s allowance; or

(ii)

members of a joint-claim couple who have made a claim for, but are not entitled to, such a benefit by reason only that they have income—

(aa)

equal to or exceeding the applicable amount, but

(bb)

less than the sum of that applicable amount and the amount of a loan payment applicable to the joint-claim couple;

(b)

in the case of universal credit means members of a couple who have jointly made a claim for, and are entitled to, universal credit;]

“joint-claim couple” has the meaning in section 1(4) of the Jobseekers Act 1995;

“JSA Regulations” means the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996(21);

“legacy benefit” means income-related employment and support allowance, income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance;

“legacy benefit claimant” means a claimant who is entitled to[F4, or is treated as entitled to,] a legacy benefit;

“legal estate” means any of the legal estates set out in section 1(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925(22);

“legal owner” means the owner, whether alone or with others, of a legal estate or, in Scotland, a heritable or registered interest, in the relevant accommodation;

“loan agreement” means an agreement entered into by a single claimant and his or her partner (if any), or each joint claimant, and the Secretary of State, which sets out the terms and conditions upon which the loan payments are made to the claimant;

“loan payments” means one or more payments, calculated under regulation 10, in respect of a claimant’s liability to make owner-occupier payments in respect of the relevant accommodation;

“loan payments offer date” means the day on which the Secretary of State sends the loan agreement to a claimant;

“Modified Rules” means the Social Security (Housing Costs Special Arrangements) (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2008(23);

“new claimant partner” has the meaning given in regulation 7 of the Transitional Provisions Regulations (24);

“non-dependant” has the meaning given—

(a)

in the case of employment and support allowance, in regulation 71 of the ESA Regulations;

(b)

in the case of income support, in regulation 3 of the IS Regulations(25);

(c)

in the case of jobseeker’s allowance, in regulation 2 of the JSA Regulations(26);

(d)

in the case of state pension credit, in paragraph 1(4) of Schedule 2 to the SPC Regulations;

“owner-occupier payments” has the meaning given in regulation 3(2)(a);

“partner” means—

(a)

where a claimant is a member of a couple, the other member of that couple;

(b)

where a claimant is married polygamously to two or more members of the claimant’s household, all such members;

“person who lacks capacity”—

(a)

in England and Wales, has the meaning given in section 2 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005(27);

(b)

in Scotland, means a person who is incapable under section 1(6) of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000(28);

“polygamous marriage” means a marriage during which a party to it is married to more than one person and which took place under the laws of a country which permits polygamy;

“qualifying benefit” means income-related employment and support allowance, income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, state pension credit or universal credit;

“qualifying lender” has the meaning given in section 19(7) of the Act;

“qualifying loan” means—

(a)

in the case of a legacy benefit or state pension credit, a loan which qualifies under paragraph 2(2) or (4) of Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

(b)

in the case of universal credit, a loan which qualifies under paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

“qualifying period” means a period of—

(a)

[F5three] consecutive assessment periods in which a claimant has been entitled to universal credit;

(b)

39 consecutive weeks in which a claimant—

(i)

has been entitled to a legacy benefit; or

(ii)

is treated as having been entitled to such a benefit under —

(aa)

paragraph 14 of Schedule 3 to the IS Regulations(29);

(bb)

paragraph 13 of Schedule 2 to the JSA Regulations(30); or

(cc)

paragraph 15 of Schedule 6 to the ESA Regulations(31);

“qualifying young person” has the meaning given—

(a)

in the case of a legacy benefit, in section 142 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(32);

(b)

in the case of state pension credit, in regulation 4A of the SPC Regulations(33);

(c)

in the case of universal credit, in regulation 5 of the UC Regulations;

“relevant accommodation” means the accommodation which the claimant occupies, or is treated as occupying, as the claimant’s home under Schedule 3;

“relevant date”, apart from in regulation 21, means the first day with respect to which a claimant’s liability to make owner-occupier payments is met by a loan payment;

[F6“single claimant” means—

(a)

an individual who has made a claim for, and is entitled to, a qualifying benefit;

(b)

an individual who has made a claim for, but is not entitled to, a legacy benefit or state pension credit by reason only that the individual has, or, if the individual is a member of a couple, they have, income—

(i)

equal to or exceeding the applicable amount, but

(ii)

less than the sum of that applicable amount and the amount of a loan payment applicable to the individual;]

“single person” means an individual who is not a member of a couple;

“SPC claimant” means a claimant who is entitled to[F7, or is treated as entitled to,] state pension credit;

“SPC Regulations” means the State Pension Credit Regulations 2002(34);

“standard security” has the meaning in Part 2 of the Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970(35);

“transitional end day” has the meaning given in regulations 19(1)[F8, 19A(1) and (5)] and 20(2);

“Transitional Provisions Regulations” means the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014(36);

“UC claimant” means a claimant who is entitled to universal credit;

“UC Regulations” means the Universal Credit Regulations 2013(37); and

“unearned income” has the meaning given in Chapter 3 of Part 6 of the UC Regulations.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to—

(a)entitlement to a qualifying benefit is to be read as a reference to entitlement as determined under the ESA Regulations, IS Regulations, JSA Regulations, SPC Regulations and UC Regulations;

[F9(aa)a person being treated as entitled to a qualifying benefit is to be read as a reference to a person who satisfies sub-paragraph (a)(ii) of the definition of “joint claimants” or sub-paragraph (b) of the definition of “single claimant”, except in the definition of “qualifying period”, regulation 21(5)(b) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 1;]

(b)the claimant’s family or to being a member of the claimant’s family means a reference to the claimant’s partner and any child or qualifying young person who is the responsibility of the claimant or the claimant’s partner, where that child or qualifying young person is a member of the claimant’s household;

(c)a person being responsible for a child or qualifying young person is to be read as a reference to a person being treated as responsible for a child or qualifying young person in the circumstances specified in—

(i)in the case of employment and support allowance, regulation 156(10) of the ESA Regulations(38);

(ii)in the case of income support, regulation 15 of the IS Regulations(39);

(iii)in the case of jobseeker’s allowance, regulation 77 of the JSA Regulations(40);

(iv)in the case of state pension credit and universal credit, regulation 4 of the UC Regulations(41);

(d)a person being a member of a household is to be read as a reference to a person being treated as a member of the household in the circumstances specified in—

(i)in the case of employment and support allowance, in regulation 156 of the ESA Regulations(42);

(ii)in the case of income support, in regulation 16 of the IS Regulations(43);

(iii)in the case of jobseeker’s allowance, in regulation 78 of the JSA Regulations(44);

(iv)in the case of state pension credit and universal credit, in regulation 5 of the SPC Regulations(45);

(e)a person being engaged in remunerative work is to be read as a reference to a person being treated as engaged in remunerative work—

(i)in the case of employment and support allowance, in regulations 41 to 43 of the ESA Regulations(46);

(ii)in the case of income support, in regulations 5 and 6 of the IS Regulations(47);

(iii)in the case of jobseeker’s allowance, in regulations 51 to 53 of the JSA Regulations(48);

(iv)in the case of state pension credit, in paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the SPC Regulations(49).

Textual Amendments

F1Words in reg. 2 inserted (6.4.2018) by The Loans for Mortgage Interest and Social Fund Maternity Grant (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/307), regs. 1(2), 2(2)(a)

F2Words in reg. 2 inserted (15.3.2021) by The Loans for Mortgage Interest (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/131), regs. 1(b), 2(2)