Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972

Introductory

1 (1) The rebate or allowance to which a tenant is entitled under a scheme shall be a weekly amount calculated in accordance with this Schedule by reference to—

(a) an amount to be allowed for the needs of the tenant and of any spouse of the tenant or dependent child of the tenan or his spouse (" the needs allowance ");

(b) the income of the tenant and of any such spouse ;

(c) the amount of the rent;

(d) a minimum weekly rent;

(e) a minimum and maximum rebate or allowance ;

(f) amounts to be deducted for non-dependants.

(2) The amounts listed in sub-paragraph (1) above (other than the amount of the rent) shall be ascertained in accordance with this Schedule.

(3) A scheme shall not apply to rent payable in respect of any part of a rental period before the date on which the scheme is made or, if it is expressed to come into force after that date, before the date on which it is expressed to come into force.

(4) No person shall be entitled to benefit under more than one scheme.

2 In this Schedule—

• " dependent child " means a person who resides in the house occupied by the tenant and whose requirements are provided for, in whole or in part, by the tenant or his spouse and who is either under the age of sixteen or of or over that age but receiving full-time instruction at any university, college or other educational establishment;

• " full-time instruction at an educational establishment " includes a reference to a person undergoing training for any trade, profession or vocation in such circumstances that he is required to devote the whole of his time to the training for a period of not less than two years ;

• " married couple " includes a man and a woman who lives with him as his wife, but does not include a man and wife who are living apart, and " wife " and, subject to paragraph 9(2)(j) below, " spouse " shall be construed accordingly;

• " non-dependant " means, in relation to a tenant, any person who resides in the house occupied by the tenant, other than the tenant himself, except a spouse of the tenant and a dependent child of the tenant or his spouse.

3 (1) Where any sum which is payable or calculated otherwise than as a weekly amount falls to be taken into account for the purposes of this Schedule, it shall be converted into the weekly amount which represents it, and that amount shall be treated as the relevant amount for those purposes ; and accordingly in this Schedule references to " weekly rent " and " weekly income " are references to the amount which represents the rent or the income as so converted.

(2) Where an authority for administrative convenience arrange for the year's rent to be paid irregularly, or so that no rent is payable for or collected in certain periods, or so that rent for different periods in the year is of different amounts, the provisions of this Schedule shall be applied, and all calculations shall be made, by reference to the rent which would have been paid if the arrangements had not been made.

4 (1) An authority may treat as a sole tenant for the purposes of this Schedule one of two or more joint tenants, and in that case, subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, every joint tenant who resides in the tenant's house and is not so treated shall be treated as a non-dependant for those purposes.

(2) Neither the spouse nor a dependent child of a tenant shall be treated as a non-dependant by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) above.

5 (1) If some person who resides in the house occupied by the tenant appears to an authority to have a higher income than the tenant and the authority have grounds for considering that in the special circumstances of the case it would be reasonable to make their calculations under this Schedule by reference to the income of that other person and not of the tenant, they may treat that other person as the tenant and make such payments of rebate or allowance (if any) as ought to be made on that basis.

(2) Where an authority exercise the power conferred on them by sub-paragraph (1) above, the tenant shall be treated as a non-dependant for the purposes of this Schedule, but neither the spouse nor a dependent child of the person who is treated as the tenant shall be treated as a non-dependant for those purposes.

6 In the following provisions of this Schedule " tenant" includes a person treated as a tenant under paragraph 4 or 5 above or paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 below.

7 Any question whether a person is a sub-tenant of the tenant or a non-dependant shall be determined, for the purposes of any scheme, by the authority who made the scheme.