PART IIProvisions affecting entitlement to housing benefit

Circumstances in which a person is to be treated as not liable to make payments in respect of a dwellingI19

1

A person who is liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling shall be treated as if he were not so liable where—

a

the tenancy or other agreement pursuant to which he occupies the dwelling is not on a commercial basis;

b

his liability under the agreement is to a person who also resides in the dwelling and who is a close relative of his or of his partner;

c

his liability under the agreement is—

i

to his former partner and is in respect of a dwelling which he and his former partner occupied before they ceased to be partners, or

ii

to his partner’s former partner and is in respect of a dwelling which his partner and his partner’s former partner occupied before they ceased to be partners;

d

he is responsible, or his partner is responsible, for a child of the person to whom he is liable under the agreement;

e

subject to paragraph (3), his liability under the agreement is to a company or a trustee of a trust of which—

i

he or his partner;

ii

his or his partner’s close relative who resides with him, or

iii

his or his partner’s former partner,

is, in the case of a company, a director or an employee, or, in the case of a trust, a trustee or a beneficiary;

f

his liability under the agreement is to a trustee of a trust of which his or his partner’s child is a beneficiary;

g

subject to paragraph (3), before the liability was created, he was a non-dependant of someone who resided, and continues to reside, in the dwelling;

h

he previously owned, or his partner previously owned, the dwelling in respect of which the liability arises and less than 5 years have elapsed since he or, as the case may be, his partner, ceased to own the property, save that this sub-paragraph shall not apply where he satisfies the appropriate authority that he or his partner could not have continued to occupy that dwelling without relinquishing ownership;

i

his occupation, or his partner’s occupation, of the dwelling is a condition of his or his partner’s employment by the landlord;

j

he is a member of, and is wholly maintained (disregarding any liability he may have to make payments in respect of the dwelling he occupies as his home) by, a religious order;

k

he is in residential accommodation;

l

in a case to which the preceding sub-paragraphs do not apply, the appropriate authority is satisfied that the liability was created to take advantage of the housing benefit scheme established under Part VII of the Act.

2

In determining whether a tenancy or other agreement pursuant to which a person occupies a dwelling is not on a commercial basis regard shall be had inter alia to whether the terms upon which the person occupies the dwelling include terms which are not enforceable at law.

3

Paragraph (1)(e) and (g) shall not apply in a case where the person satisfies the appropriate authority that the liability was not intended to be a means of taking advantage of the housing benefit scheme.

4

In this regulation “residential accommodation” means accommodation which is provided in—

a

a residential care home;

b

a nursing home; or

c

an independent hospital.