The Social Security (Housing Benefit, State Pension Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

Amendment of the State Pension Credit Regulations

6.—(1) The State Pension Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(1) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (6).

(2) In regulation 1(2) (interpretation), after the definition of “the Eileen Trust” there shall be inserted –

““equity release scheme” means a loan –

(a)

made between a person (“the lender”) and the claimant;

(b)

by means of which a sum of money is advanced by the lender to the claimant by way of payments at regular intervals, and

(c)

which is secured on a dwelling in which the claimant owns an estate or interest and which he occupies as his home;”.

(3) In regulation 15(5) (income for the purposes of the Act) after sub-paragraph (i)(2) there shall be added the following sub-paragraph –

“(j) any payment made at regular intervals under an equity release scheme.”.

(4) At the end of regulation 16 (retirement pension income) there shall be added the following paragraph –

“(m) any payment made at regular intervals under an equity release scheme.”.

(5) In Schedule 2 (housing costs) –

(a) in paragraph 4(11)(c) (circumstances in which a person is to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home) for sub-head (i) there shall be substituted the following sub-head –

“(i) detained in custody on remand pending trial or, as a condition of bail, required to reside in a dwelling, other than the dwelling he occupies as his home or, detained pending sentence upon conviction; or”;

(b) in paragraph 14 (persons residing with the claimant) –

(i) in sub-paragraph (1), for heads (a) to (c)(3) there shall be substituted the following heads –

“(a) in respect of a non-dependant aged 18 or over who is engaged in any remunerative work, £47·75;

(b) in respect of a non-dependant aged 18 or over to whom head (a) does not apply, £7·40.”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (7) –

(aa) at the end of head (e)(4) there shall be inserted “or”;

(bb) after head (e) there shall be added the following head –

“(f) if he is in receipt of state pension credit.”.

(6) In paragraph 4(a) of Schedule 5 (capital disregarded for the purpose of calculating income), for the words from “partner” to “claimant” there shall be substituted “person who is a close relative, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the claimant or of his partner”.

(1)

S.R. 2003 No. 28; relevant amending Rules are S.R. 2003 Nos. 261 and 421 and S.R. 2004 No. 82

(2)

Sub-paragraph (i) was added by regulation 2(7)(b) of S.R. 2003 No. 421

(3)

Heads (a) to (c) were amended by Article 24(4) of S.R. 2004 No. 82

(4)

Head (e) was amended by regulation 7(2) of S.R. 2003 No. 261