SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 1Meaning of payments in respect of accommodation
General
Interpretation1
In this Schedule—
F1“approved premises” means hostels which receive grants for housing support services under Article 4 of the Housing Support Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 in respect of offenders, with bed spaces allocated for criminal justice referrals;
“care home” means a residential care home as defined in Article 10 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 M1F2, or a nursing home as defined in Article 11 of that Order and includes an independent hospital;
“equity sharing lease” has the meaning given in regulation 27(6) (amount of the housing costs element – renters and owner-occupiers);
“exempt accommodation” has the meaning given in paragraph 4(9) of Schedule 3 to the Housing Benefit (Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 M2;
“housing association” has the meaning given by Article 3 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 M3;
“the Housing Executive” means the Northern Ireland Housing Executive;
“independent hospital” has the meaning as defined in Article 2(2) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;
“registered charity” means a charity entered in the register of charities maintained under Part 4 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 M4;
“tent” means a moveable structure that is designed or adapted (solely or mainly) for the purpose of sleeping in a place for any period and that is not a caravan, a mobile home or a houseboat;
“voluntary organisation” means any association carrying on or proposing to carry on any activities otherwise than for the purpose of gain by the association or by individual members of the association.
Rent payments
Rent Payments2
“Rent payments” are such of the following as are not excluded by paragraph 3—
a
payments of rent;
b
payments for a licence or other permission to occupy accommodation;
c
mooring charges payable for a houseboat;
d
in relation to accommodation which is a caravan or mobile home, payments in respect of the site on which the accommodation stands.
Payments excluded from being rent payments3
The following are excluded from being “rent payments”—
a
payments of ground rent;
b
payments in respect of a tent or the site on which a tent stands;
c
payments in respect of approved premises;
d
payments in respect of a care home;
e
payments in respect of accommodation specified in paragraph 4;
F7ea
payments in respect of accommodation specified in paragraph 4A;
f
payments which, are owner-occupier payments F4within the meaning of Schedule 1 to the Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017;
g
payments which, are service charge payments within the meaning of paragraph 8.
Specified accommodation4
1
The accommodation referred to in paragraph 3(e) is accommodation to which one or more of the following sub-paragraphs applies.
2
This sub-paragraph applies to accommodation which is exempt accommodation.
3
This sub-paragraph applies to accommodation—
a
which is provided by a relevant body,
b
into which the claimant has been admitted in order to meet a need for care, support or supervision, and
c
where the claimant receives care, support or supervision.
4
This sub-paragraph applies to accommodation which—
a
is provided by the Housing Executive or a relevant body to the claimant because the claimant has left the home as a result of domestic violence, and
b
consists of a building, or part of a building, which is used wholly or mainly for the non-permanent accommodation of persons who have left their homes as a result of domestic violence.
5
This sub-paragraph applies to accommodation—
a
which would be a hostel within the meaning of paragraph 28(6) (renters excepted from shared accommodation) of Schedule 4 (housing costs element for renters) but for it being owned or managed by the Housing Executive, and
b
where the claimant receives care, support or supervision.
6
In this paragraph—
“domestic violence” has the meaning given in regulation 96 (victims of domestic violence);
“relevant body” means a—
- a
housing association,
- b
registered charity, or
- c
voluntary organisation.
- a
F6Temporary Accommodation4A
1
The accommodation referred to in paragraph (3)(ea) is accommodation which falls within Case 1 or Case 2.
2
Case 1 is where—
a
rent payments are payable to the Housing Executive;
b
the Housing Executive makes the accommodation available to the renter—
i
to discharge any of the Housing Executive’s functions under Part II of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988, or
ii
to prevent the person being or becoming homeless within the meaning of Part II of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988, and
c
the accommodation is not exempt accommodation.
3
Case 2 is where—
a
rent payments are payable to a provider of social housing other than the Housing Executive;
b
that provider makes the accommodation available to the renter in pursuance of arrangements made with it by the Housing Executive—
i
to discharge any of the Housing Executive’s functions under Part II of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988, or
ii
to prevent the person being or becoming homeless within the meaning of Part II of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988, and
c
the accommodation is not exempt accommodation.
4
Sub-paragraph (1) applies irrespective of whether the renter is also liable to make service charge payments.
5
In sub-paragraph (3), “provider of social housing” has the meaning given in paragraph 2 of Schedule 4.
Owner-occupier payments
Owner-occupier paymentsF35
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Meaning of “loan interest payments”F36
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Meaning of “alternative finance payments”F37
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Service charge payments
Service charge payments8
1
“Service charge payments” are payments which—
a
fall within sub-paragraph (2),
b
are not excluded by sub-paragraph (3), and
c
in any case to which paragraph 9 applies, meet all of the conditions set out in that paragraph.
2
The payments falling within this sub-paragraph are payments of amounts which are, in whole or in part—
a
payments of, or towards, the costs of or charges for providing services or facilities for the use or benefit of persons occupying accommodation, or
b
fairly attributable to the costs of or charges for providing such services or facilities connected with the accommodation as are available for the use or benefit of persons occupying accommodation.
3
Payments are excluded by this sub-paragraph where—
a
F5a qualifying loan within the meaning of regulation 2 of the Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017 was taken out for the purposes of making the payments, or
b
the services or facilities to which the payments relate are provided for the use or benefit of any person occupying—
i
a tent,
ii
approved premises,
iii
a care home, or
iv
exempt accommodation.
4
It is irrelevant for the purposes of sub-paragraph (2)—
a
whether or not the payments are separately identified as relating to the costs or charges referred to in sub-paragraph (2);
b
whether they are made in addition to or as part of any other payment (including a payment that would otherwise be regarded as a rent payment within the meaning of paragraph 2);
c
whether they are made under the same or a different agreement as that under which the accommodation is occupied.
Additional conditions: social rented sector renters and owner-occupiers9
1
This paragraph applies for the purposes of calculating the amount of the housing costs element to be included in a claimant's award of universal credit but only as regards calculations made under—
a
Part 5 of Schedule 4 (social rented sectorF8...); or
b
Schedule 5 (housing costs element for owner-occupiers).
2
The following are the conditions referred to in paragraph 8(1)(c).
3
The first condition is that making the payments is a condition on which the right to occupy the accommodation depends.
4
The second condition is that the payments fall within one or more of the following categories:
Category A - Payments to maintain the general standard of the accommodation
Payments within this category are for—
a
the external cleaning of windows, but only in relation to upper floors of a multi-storey building;
b
other internal or external maintenance or repair of the accommodation, but only where the payments are separately identifiable as relating to such maintenance or repair, and payable by—
i
a claimant who occupies accommodation under an equity sharing lease, or
ii
a claimant in whose case any amount of housing costs element to be included in their award in respect of those payments would fall to be calculated under Schedule 5.
Category B - Payments for the general upkeep of areas of communal use
Payments within this category are for ongoing maintenance or cleaning of, and the supply of water, fuel or any other commodity relating to the common use of, internal or external areas, including areas for reasonable facilities (such as laundry rooms or children's play areas).
Category C - Payments in respect of basic communal services
Payments within this category are for provision, ongoing maintenance, cleaning or repair in connection with basic services generally available to all persons living in the accommodation (such as refuse collection, communal lifts, secure building access or wireless or television aerials to receive a service free of charge).
Category D – Accommodation-specific charges
Payments within this category are specific to the particular accommodation occupied by a claimant but are limited to payments for the use of essential items contained in it (such as furniture or domestic appliances).
5
The third condition is that the costs and charges to which the payments relate are of a reasonable amount and relate to services or facilities of such description as it is reasonable to provide.
6
The fourth condition is that the payments are none of the following—
a
payments to the extent that they relate to the costs of or charges for providing services or facilities in respect of which payments out of public funds might otherwise be made (irrespective of whether the claimant has any entitlement to payments so made);
b
payments in connection with the use of an asset which result in the transfer of the asset or any interest in it;
c
payments to the extent that they relate to the costs of or charges for providing food, medical services or personal services (including personal care) of any description.
7
Payments that are not service charge payments within the meaning of paragraph 8 by reason only that they fail to meet any of the conditions set out in sub-paragraphs (3) to (6) are nevertheless to be treated as if they were such service charge payments for the purposes of paragraphs 3(g) and 5(2).