The Housing Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Eligible Rent

5.—(1) For the purposes of paragraph 4(1), regulation 13 of both the Housing Benefit Regulations and the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations is as follows—

“Rent

13.— (1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, the payments in respect of which housing benefit is payable in the form of a rent rebate or allowance are the following periodical payments which a person is liable to make in respect of the dwelling which he occupies as his home—

(a) payments of, or by way of, rent;

(b) payments in respect of a licence or permission to occupy the dwelling;

(c) payments by way of mesne profits;

(d) payments in respect of, or in consequence of, use and occupation of the dwelling;

(e) payments of, or by way of, service charges payment of which is a condition on which the right to occupy the dwelling depends;

(f) mooring charges payable for a houseboat;

(g) where the home is a caravan or a mobile home, payments in respect of the site on which it stands; and

(h) payments under a rental purchase agreement, that is to say an agreement for the purchase of a dwelling which is a building or part of one under which the whole or part of the purchase price is to be paid in more than one instalment and the completion of the purchase is deferred until the whole or a specified part of the purchase price has been paid.

(2) A rent rebate or, as the case may be, a rent allowance shall not be payable in respect of the following periodical payments—

(a) payments by an owner;

(b) payments under a hire purchase, credit sale or conditional sale agreement except to the extent the conditional sale agreement is in respect of land; and

(c) payments by a person who is eligible for a rent rebate or allowance under a scheme operated by the Ministry of Defence.

(3) Subject to any apportionment in accordance with paragraphs (4) and (5) and to regulations 14 and 14ZA (restrictions on unreasonable payments and rent increases), the amount of a person’s eligible rent shall be the aggregate of such payments specified in paragraph (1) as he is liable to pay less—

(a) except where he is separately liable for rates, an amount determined in accordance with paragraph (6);

(b) where payments include service charges which are wholly or partly ineligible, an amount in respect of the ineligible charges determined in accordance with Schedule 1; and

(c) where he is liable to make payments in respect of any service charges to which paragraph (1)(e) does not apply, but to which paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 1 (ineligible service charges) applies in the particular circumstances, an amount in respect of such charges determined in accordance with paragraph 3(2) of that Schedule.

(4) Where the payments specified in paragraph (1) are payable in respect of accommodation which consists partly of residential accommodation and partly of other accommodation, only such proportion thereof as is referable to the residential accommodation shall count as eligible rent for the purposes of these Regulations.

(5) Where more than one person is liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling, the payments specified in paragraph (1) shall be apportioned for the purpose of calculating the eligible rent for each such person having regard to all the circumstances, in particular, the number of such persons and the proportion of rent paid by each such person.

(6) The amount of the deduction in respect of rates referred to in paragraph (3) shall be—

(a) if the dwelling occupied by the claimant is a single rateable unit, the amount of the rates payable in respect of the rateable unit as a whole; or

(b) if the dwelling comprises part only of a rateable unit, the amount treated as a payment by way of rates by virtue of regulation 12(2) (rates).

(7) In this regulation and Schedule 1—

“service charges” means periodical payments for services, whether or not under the same agreement as that under which the dwelling is occupied, or whether or not such a charge is specified as separate from or separately identified within other payments made by the occupier in respect of the dwelling; and

“services” means services performed or facilities (including the use of furniture) provided for, or rights made available to, the occupier of a dwelling.”.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph 4(1), regulation 14 of both the Housing Benefit Regulations and the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations is as follows—

“Restrictions on unreasonable payments

14.— (1) Where a rent is registered in respect of a dwelling under Part IV, V or VI of the Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978(1) and the rent recoverable from a claimant is limited to the rent so registered, his eligible rent determined in accordance with regulation 13 shall not exceed the rent so registered.

(2) The appropriate authority shall consider—

(a) whether a claimant occupies a dwelling larger than is reasonably required by him and others who also occupy that dwelling (including any non-dependants of his and any person paying rent to him) having regard in particular to suitable alternative accommodation occupied by a household of the same size;

(b) whether the rates payable for the claimant’s dwelling are unreasonably high by comparison with the rates payable in respect of suitable alternative accommodation elsewhere; or

(c) whether the rent payable for his dwelling is unreasonably high by comparison with the rent payable in respect of suitable alternative accommodation elsewhere,

and, where it appears to the authority that the dwelling is larger than is reasonably required or that the rates are, or as the case may be, the rent is unreasonably high, the authority shall, subject to paragraphs (3) to (6), treat the claimant’s eligible rates, or as the case may be, eligible rent, as reduced by such amount as it considers appropriate having regard in particular to the cost of suitable alternative accommodation elsewhere and the claimant’s maximum housing benefit shall be calculated by reference to the eligible rates or eligible rent as so reduced.

(3) If any person to whom paragraph (10) applies—

(a) is aged 60 or over;

(b) is incapable of work for the purposes of one or more of the provisions of the Act;

(c) is treated as capable of work in accordance with regulations made under section 167E of the Act; or

(d) is a member of the same household as a child or young person for whom he or his partner is responsible,

no deduction shall be made under paragraph (2) unless suitable cheaper alternative accommodation is available and the authority considers that, taking into account the relevant factors, it is reasonable to expect the claimant to move from his present accommodation.

(5) No reduction shall be made under paragraph (2) for a period of 12 months from the date of death of any person to whom paragraph (10) applied or, had a claim been made, would have applied, if the dwelling which the claimant occupies is the same as that occupied by him at that date except where the reduction began before the death occurred.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (5), a claimant shall be treated as occupying the dwelling if paragraph (13) of regulation 7 (circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home) is satisfied and for that purpose sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph shall be treated as if it were omitted.

(7) Without prejudice to the operation of paragraph (3), but subject to paragraph (8), where the relevant authority is satisfied that a person to whom paragraph (10) applies was able to meet the financial commitments for his dwelling when they were entered into, no deduction shall be made under paragraph (2) during the first 13 benefit weeks of the claimant’s benefit period.

(8) Paragraph (7) shall not apply where a claimant was previously entitled to benefit in respect of a benefit period which fell wholly or partly less than 52 weeks before the commencement of his current benefit period.

(9) For the purposes of this regulation—

(a) in deciding what is suitable alternative accommodation, the appropriate authority shall take account of the nature of the alternative accommodation and the facilities provided having regard to the age and state of health of all the persons to whom paragraph (10) applies and, in particular, where a claimant’s present dwelling is occupied with security of tenure, accommodation shall not be treated as suitable alternative accommodation unless that accommodation will be occupied on terms which will afford security of tenure reasonably equivalent to that presently enjoyed by the claimant; and

(b) the relevant factors in paragraph (3) are the effects of a move to alternative accommodation on—

(i) the claimant’s prospects of retaining his employment; and

(ii) the education of any child or young person referred to in paragraph (3)(d) if such a move were to result in a change of school.

(10) This paragraph applies to the following persons—

(a) the claimant;

(b) any member of his family;

(c) if the claimant is a member of a polygamous marriage, any partners of his and any child or young person for whom he or a partner is responsible and who is a member of the same household;

(d) subject to paragraph (11), any relative of the claimant or his partner who occupies the same dwelling as the claimant, whether or not they reside with him.

(11) Paragraph (10)(d) shall only apply to a relative who has no separate right of occupation of the dwelling which would enable him to continue to occupy it even if the claimant ceased his occupation of it.”.

(3) For the purposes of regulation 13(3) of both the Housing Benefit Regulations and the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations, as inserted by paragraph (1), regulation 14ZA of both those Regulations is as follows—

“Restrictions on rent increases

14ZA.— (1) Subject to paragraph (2), where a claimant’s eligible rent is increased during a benefit period the relevant authority may, if it considers either—

(a) that the increase is unreasonably high having regard in particular to the level of increases for suitable alternative accommodation; or

(b) in the case of an increase which takes place less than 12 months after the date of the previous increase, that the increase is unreasonable having regard to the length of time since the previous increase,

treat the eligible rent as reduced either by the full amount of the increase or, if it considers that a lesser increase was reasonable in all the circumstances, by the difference between the full amount of the increase and the increase that is reasonable having regard in particular to the level of increases for suitable alternative accommodation, and the claimant’s maximum housing benefit shall be calculated by reference to the eligible rent as so reduced.

(2) No reduction shall be made under this regulation for a period of 12 months from the date of death of any person to whom regulation 14(9) applied or, had a claim been made, would have applied, if the dwelling which the claimant occupies is the same as that occupied by him at that date except where the reduction began before the death occurred.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), a claimant shall be treated as occupying the dwelling if paragraph (13) of regulation 7 is satisfied and for that purpose sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph shall be treated as if it were omitted.”.

(1)

S.I. 1978/1050 (N.I. 20)