The Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Circumstances in which payment is to be made to a landlord or the Department of Finance and Personnel N.I.

92.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and paragraph 8(4) of Schedule A1, a payment of rent allowance or rate rebate shall be made to a landlord (and in this regulation the “ landlord” includes a person to whom rent or sums by way of rates are payable by the person entitled to that allowance or rebate)—

(a) where under regulations made under the Administration Act an amount of income support or a jobseeker’s allowance payable to the claimant or his partner is being paid direct to the landlord; or

(b) where sub-paragraph (a) does not apply and the person is in arrears of an amount equivalent to 6 weeks or more of the amount he is liable to pay his landlord as rent or rates, except where it is in the overriding interest of the claimant not to make direct payments to the landlord.

(2) Any payment of rent allowance made to a landlord pursuant to this regulation or to regulation 93 shall be to discharge, in whole or in part, the liability of the claimant to pay rent or rates or both to that landlord in respect of the dwelling concerned, except in so far as—

(a) the claimant had no entitlement to the whole or part of that rent allowance so paid to his landlord; and

(b) the overpayment of rent allowance resulting was recovered in whole or in part from that landlord.

(3) Where the person is liable to pay rates to the Department of Finance and Personnel and the circumstances in paragraph 1(a) or (b) applies the amount payable by way of rate rebate shall be paid direct to that Department.

(4) Where the Executive is not satisfied that the landlord is a fit and proper person to be the recipient of a payment of rent allowance or rate rebate no such payment shall be made direct to him under paragraph (1).

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 92 in operation at 20.11.2006, see reg. 1(1)