Housing Renewal Grants (Reduction of Grant) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

Article 61 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 provides, inter alia, that where in the case of an application to the Housing Executive for a renovation grant or disabled facilities grant the financial resources of the applicant (or, in the case of an application for disabled facilities grant, the financial resources of any person specified by regulations) exceed the applicable amount, then the amount of any grant which may be paid shall be reduced in accordance with regulations.

Article 62 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 provides, inter alia, that in the case of a landlord’s application for a renovation grant, common parts grant, disabled facilities grant or HMO grant, information or evidence needed for the determination of any matter under that Article shall be furnished by such persons as may be prescribed in regulations.

Article 73 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 provides, inter alia, that the Housing Executive may pay grant towards the cost of complete replacement of a dwelling in accordance with regulations made by the Department. While Article 47 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (which contained the power to make reduction of grant regulations) has been repealed for the purposes of renovation and disabled facilities grants, it remains in operation (with modifications) for the purposes of replacement grant.

These Regulations provide for reduction of the amount of renovation grant, disabled facilities grant and replacement grant which may be paid to applicants and for certain financial information to be provided by pension fund holders.

Part I contains general provisions as to the citation, commencement and interpretation of the Regulations (regulations 1 and 2). Regulation 3 provides for the exclusion of persons from abroad, as defined by housing benefit rules, from eligibility for grant. Regulation 4 enables the Housing Executive to require a pension fund holder to provide it with details of deferred income under a personal pension scheme or retirement annuity contract. Regulation 5 requires that relevant persons must provide details of their national insurance numbers. Regulations 6 and 7 define a relevant person and a non-dependant and regulation 8 makes provision in regard to the circumstances in which a person is to be treated as engaged in remunerative work. Regulations 9 and 10 make provision in regard to the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as responsible for another person and in which a person is or is not to be treated as being a member of the same household as a relevant person, ie, a person whose financial resources are to be taken into account in determining whether the amount of the grant is to be reduced and, if so, by how much. Regulations 11 and 12 set out what comprises the applicable amount and the amount to be taken to be the financial resources in respect of an application, by reference to which any reduction in the amount of grant is determined.

Part II specifies the method of assessing the amount by which a grant is to be reduced in various circumstances (regulations 13 and 14).

Part III and Schedule 1 provide for the determination of the applicable amount of a relevant person, and with respect to polygamous marriages (regulations 15 and 16).

Part IV (regulations 17 to 41) provides for the determination of the income and capital of a relevant person, the earnings of employed and self-employed earners and the treatment of income other than earnings (including notional income); sums to be disregarded are set out in Schedules 2 and 3. Capital to be disregarded is set out in Schedule 4.

Part V provides for the treatment of students (regulations 42 to 51).

Part VI revokes the grants regulations made under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992.