The Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Meaning of “income” N.I.

27.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, “ income” means income of any of the following descriptions—

(a) earnings;

(b) working tax credit;

(c) retirement pension income within the meaning of section 16(1) of the State Pension Credit Act;

(d) income from annuity contracts (other than retirement pension income);

(e) a guaranteed income payment;

(f) a payment made under article 21(1)(c) of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2005(1) but only where the condition referred to in article 23(2)(c) is met;

(g) income from capital, other than capital disregarded under Part I of Schedule 7;

(h) social security benefits, other than retirement pension income or any of the following benefits—

(i) disability living allowance;

(ii) attendance allowance payable under section 64 of the Act(2);

(iii) an increase of disablement pension under section 104 or 105 of the Act;

(iv) a payment under regulations made in exercise of the power conferred by paragraph 4(2)(b) of Schedule 8 to the Act;

(v) child benefit;

(vi) any guardian’s allowance payable under section 77 of the Act(3);

(vii) any increase for a dependant, other than the claimant’s partner, payable in accordance with Part IV of the Act;

(viii) any social fund payment made under Part VIII of the Act;

(ix) Christmas bonus payable under Part X of the Act;

(x) housing benefit;

(xi) bereavement payment(4);

(xii) statutory sick pay;

(xiii) statutory maternity pay;

(xiv) statutory paternity pay payable under Part XIIZA of the Act(5);

(xv) statutory adoption pay payable under Part XIIZB of the Act(6);

(xvi) any benefit similar to those mentioned in the preceding provisions of this paragraph payable under legislation having effect in Great Britain;

(i) all foreign social security benefits which are similar to the social security benefits prescribed above;

(j) any payment made under article 30 of the Naval, Military and Air Forces Etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 2006(7);

(k) a pension paid to victims of National Socialist persecution under any special provision made by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, or any part of it, or of the Republic of Austria;

(l) payments under a scheme made under the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers’ Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979(8);

(m) payments made towards the maintenance of the claimant by his spouse, civil partner, former spouse or former civil partner or towards the maintenance of the claimant’s partner by his spouse, civil partner, former spouse or former civil partner, including payments made—

(i) under a court order;

(ii) under an agreement for maintenance, or

(iii) voluntarily;

(n) payments due from any person in respect of board and lodging accommodation provided by the claimant;

(o) payments consisting of royalties or other sums received as a consideration for the use of, or the right to use, any copyright, patent or trade mark;

(p) any payment made to the claimant in respect of any book registered under the Public Lending Right Scheme 1982(9);

(q) any payment, other than a payment ordered by a court or made in settlement of a claim, made by or on behalf of a former employer of a person on account of the early retirement of that person on grounds of ill-health or disability;

(r) any sum payable by way of pension out of money provided under the Civil List Act 1837(10), the Civil List Act 1937(11), the Civil List Act 1952(12), the Civil List Act 1972(13) or the Civil List Act 1975(14);

(s) any income in lieu of that specified in sub-paragraphs (a) to (p);

(t) any payment of rent or, as the case may be, rates made to a claimant who—

(i) owns the freehold or leasehold interest in any property or is a tenant of any property;

(ii) occupies part of the property, and

(iii) has an agreement with another person allowing that person to occupy that property on payment of rent or, as the case may be, rates;

(u) any payment made at regular intervals under an equity release scheme; and

(v) PPF periodic payments within the meaning of section 17(1) of the State Pension Credit Act(15).

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, a claimant’s capital, other than capital disregarded under Schedule 7, shall be treated as if it were a weekly income—

(a) in the case of a claimant residing permanently in accommodation to which paragraph (6) applies, of £1 for each £500 in excess of £10,000 and £1 for any excess which is not a complete £500;

(b) in any other case, of £1 for each £500 in excess of £6,000 and £1 for any excess which is not a complete £500.

(3) Where the payment of any social security benefit prescribed under paragraph (1) is subject to any deduction (other than an adjustment specified in paragraph (4)) the amount to be taken into account under paragraph (1) shall be the amount before the deduction is made.

(4) The adjustments specified in this paragraph are those made in accordance with—

(a) the Social Security (Overlapping Benefits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1979(16);

(b) the Social Security (Hospital In-Patients) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005;

(c) section 30DD or section 30E of the Act(17) (reductions in incapacity benefit in respect of pensions and councillor’s allowances).

[F1 (d) section 3 of the Welfare Reform Act (deductions from contributory employment and support allowance in respect of pensions and councillor’s allowances).]

(5) 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.

(6) This paragraph applies to accommodation provided—

(a) in a residential care home or nursing home;

(b) in an Abbeyfield Home;

(c) in an independent hospital.

(7) For the purposes of paragraph (6), a person shall be treated as residing permanently in the accommodation notwithstanding that he is absent from it for a period not exceeding 52 weeks.

(8) In paragraph (1)(u), “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.

Textual Amendments

F1 Reg. 27(4)(d) added (27.10.2008) by The Housing Benefit (Employment and Support Allowance Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (S.R. 2008/378), regs. 1, 4(5)

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 27 in operation at 20.11.2006, see reg. 1(1)

(1)

S.I. 2005/439

(2)

Section 64 was amended by Article 63(1) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11))

(3)

Section 77 was amended by Schedule 6 to the Tax Credits Act 2002, paragraph 88 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and paragraph 30 of Schedule 1 to the Child Benefit Act 2005

(4)

Bereavement payment was introduced by Article 51(1) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999

(5)

Part XIIZA was inserted by Article 5 of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2836 (N.I. 2))

(6)

Part XIIZB was inserted by Article 6 of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002

(7)

S.I. 2006/606

(8)

S.I. 1979/925 (N.I. 9); amended by Article 22 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (S.I. 1985/1209 (N.I. 16))

(9)

The Scheme is set out in the Appendix to S.I. 1982/719

(10)

1837 c. 2

(11)

1937 c. 32

(12)

1952 c. 37

(13)

1972 c. 7

(14)

1975 c. 82

(15)

Section 17(1) was amended by paragraph 3(3) of the Schedule to S.R. 2006 No. 37

(16)

S.R. 1979 No. 242

(17)

Section 30DD was inserted by Article 60 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 and section 30E was inserted by Article 5(1) of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/1898 (N.I. 12))