The Housing Benefit (Community Charge Rebates) (Scotland) Regulations 1988

PART VII BENEFIT PERIODS, CHANGES OF CIRCUMSTANCES AND CALCULATION OF WEEKLY AMOUNTS

Date on which entitlement is to begin

52.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and to regulation 59(15) to (17) (renewal claims) any person by whom or in respect of whom a claim for housing benefit is made and who is otherwise entitled to that benefit shall be so entitled from the benefit week following the date on which that claim is made or is treated as made.

(2) Where a person is otherwise entitled to housing benefit and becomes liable to pay a personal community charge on a day immediately prior to which he was not so liable or was a registered student, he shall be so entitled from the day on which his claim is made or is treated as made.

(3) Where a person who is otherwise entitled to housing benefit becomes liable for a collective community charge contribution in respect of his residence in premises in respect of which the collective community charge is payable, he shall be so entitled from the day on which his claim is made or is treated as made.

Benefit period

53.—(1) Where a person is entitled to housing benefit the appropriate authority shall make an award for a specified period (“the benefit period”) commencing with–

(a) the first benefit week in respect of which he is so entitled; or if later

(b) the benefit week in which the claim is received at the designated office.

(2) The benefit period shall be such number of benefit weeks as the appropriate authority shall determine having regard in particular to any relevant circumstances which the appropriate authority reasonably expects may affect entitlement in the future.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the benefit period shall not exceed 60 benefit weeks.

(4) Where a claimant either is on income support or, although not in receipt thereof, has included in the calculation of his applicable amount the disability premium, the severe disability premium or the higher pensioner premium, and a claim for a further award of housing benefit has not been made by the last benefit week of his benefit period, the appropriate authority may extend the current benefit period by not more than 4 benefit weeks.

Date on which benefit period is to end

54.  The benefit period shall end with the last day of the final week of that period, determined by the appropriate authority in accordance with regulation 53(2) to (4) (benefit period) unless–

(a) the claimant is a person on income support and he ceases to be so entitled; or

(b) the appropriate authority determines that some other change of circumstances has occurred which should result in the benefit period ending with an earlier week,

when the benefit period shall end with the last day of the final benefit week for which he is entitled to housing benefit.

Date on which change of circumstances is to take effect

55.—(1) Except in cases where regulation 16 (disregard of changes in tax, contributions, etc) applies and subject to paragraphs (2) to (4), a change of circumstances which affects entitlement to, or the amount of, housing benefit (“change of circumstances”), shall take effect from the first day of the benefit week following the date on which the change actually occurs, and where that change is cessation of entitlement to any benefit under the benefit Acts(1), the date on which the change actually occurs shall be the day immediately following the last day of entitlement to that benefit.

(2) Where the change of circumstances is a change in the amount of a personal community charge of collective community charge contributions payable, it shall take effect from the day on which it actually occurs.

(3) Where the change of circumstances is an amendment to these Regulations, it shall take effect from the date on which the amendment to these Regulations comes into force.

(4) If two or more changes of circumstances occurring in the same benefit week would, but for this paragraph, take effect in different benefit weeks in accordance with paragraphs (1) to (3), they shall take effect from the first day of the benefit week in which they occur unless one of the changes is a change to which paragraphs (2) or (3) above refers, when they shall have effect from the day to which the relevant paragraph refers or, where more than one day is concerned, from the earlier day.

Calculation of weekly amounts

56.—(1) In calculating the amount of housing benefit to which a person is entitled in respect of any benefit week, the appropriate authority shall take account of any personal community charge or collective community charge contributions for which that person is liable in respect of that week having regard to the manner in which that charge or those contributions are payable.

(2) Any amount determined under these Regulations including any amount to which the members of a couple or of a polygamous marriage may be entitled may, if it is appropriate, be rounded to the nearest whole penny by disregarding any amount less than half a penny and treating any amount of half a penny or more as a whole penny.

Increases of weekly amounts for exceptional circumstances

57.  The appropriate authority may modify the provisions of Part VI of these Regulations (amount of benefit) so that, if it considers the circumstances of a person for whom a claim for housing benefit has been made to be exceptional, the amount of housing benefit to be paid in his case may be increased to an extent which does not cause the total housing benefit to be paid to him for any week to exceed his maximum housing benefit for that week.

(1)

The benefit Acts are specified in section 84(1) of the Social Security Act 1986 (c. 50).