The Housing Benefit (General) Amendment Regulations 1991

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 in the following respects—

(a) they replace references to the Training Commission by references to the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for Employment (regulation 2);

(b) they amend regulation 11 so as to require appropriate authorities to treat a claimant’s rent as reduced when calculating his maximum housing benefit where it is considered that his dwelling is larger than is reasonably required or that his rent is unreasonably high (regulation 3);

(c) they add to the sums which are to be disregarded in calculating a person’s earnings (regulation 4);

(d) they amend the manner in which a student’s income is calculated (regulations 5 and 8);

(e) they amend the conditions which specify how notional capital attributed to a claimant is to be reduced (regulation 6);

(f) they extend the provisions under which deaf students may be eligible for housing benefit to include students in receipt of certain educational awards from Northern Ireland and the definition of a course of higher education with respect to full-time students under 19 (regulation 7);

(g) they provide that no deduction shall be made in calculating the amount of housing benefit where a non-dependent aged less than 25 who is in receipt of income support resides with the claimant (regulation 9);

(h) they extend the provisions governing the date on which a claim is made (regulation 10);

(i) they amend the provision specifying the circumstances in which overpayments of benefit on account of official errors are not recoverable (regulation 11);

(j) they extend the circumstances in which an appropriate authority may substitute it own estimate of the cost of charges which are ineligible for housing benefit where it considers that the charges made were unreasonably low (regulation 12);

(k) they amend the conditions governing whether a tenancy is excluded from those to be referred to a Rent Officer for his determination as to the amount of rent, or the size of a dwelling or the cost of services, so as to enable a reference to be made in certain cases where a child who is a member of the household attains the age of 10 or 16 (regulation 13);

(l) they amend the circumstances in which the value of a right to receive income may be disregarded from a person’s capital (regulation 14).