xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"

Regulation 14

SCHEDULE 3 ELIGIBLE HOUSING COSTS

Eligible housing costs for the purposes of determining exempt income and protected income

1.  Subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, [F1the following amounts payable] in respect of the provision of a home shall be eligible to be taken into account as housing costs for the purposes of these Regulations—

(a)[F2amounts payable by way of] rent;

[F3(b)amounts payable by way of mortgage interest;]

(c)[F4amounts payable by way of interest] under a hire purchase agreement to buy a home;

(d)[F4amounts payable by way of interest] on loans for repairs and improvements to the home[F5, including interest on a loan for any service charge imposed to meet the cost of such repairs and improvements;]

(e)[F6amounts payable] by way of ground rent or in Scotland, [F6amounts payable] by way of feu duty;

(f)[F6amounts payable] under a co-ownership scheme;

(g)[F6amounts payable] in respect of, or in consequence of, the use and occupation of the home;

(h)where the home is a tent, [F6amounts payable] in respect of the tent and the site on which it stands;

(i)[F6amounts payable] in respect of a licence or permission to occupy the home (whether or not board is provided);

(j)[F6amounts payable] by way of mesne profits or, in Scotland, violent profits;

(k)[F7amounts payable by way of] service charges, the payment of which is a condition on which the right to occupy the home depends;

(l)[F8amounts payable] under or relating to a tenancy or licence of a Crown tenant;

(m)mooring charges payable for a houseboat;

(n)where the home is a caravan or a mobile home, [F9amounts payable] in respect of the site on which it stands;

(o)any contribution payable by a parent resident in an almshouse provided by a housing association which is either a charity of which particulars are entered in the register of charities established under section 4 of the Charities Act 1960 M1 (register of charities) or an exempt charity within the meaning of that Act, which is a contribution towards the cost of maintaining that association’s almshouses and essential services in them;

(p)[F10amounts payable] under a rental purchase agreement, that is to say an agreement for the purchase of a home 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;

(q)where, in Scotland, the home is situated on or pertains to a croft within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955M2, the [F11amount payable] in respect of the croft land;

(r)where the home is provided by an employer (whether under a condition or term in a contract of service or otherwise), [F12amounts payable] to that employer in respect of the home, including [F13any amounts deductible by the employer] from the remuneration of the parent in question;

F14(s). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F15(t)amounts payable in respect of a loan taken out to pay off another loan but only to the extent that it was incurred in respect of amounts eligible to be taken into account as housing costs by virtue of other provisions of this Schedule.]

Textual Amendments

Marginal Citations

M11960 c.58; subsections (8) and (10) of section 4 were amended by section 1(4) and (5) and Schedule 2, Parts I and II of the Education Act 1973 (c.16).

M21955 c.21; section 3(1) was amended by section 14 of the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 (c.21).

Loans for repairs and improvements to the home

2.  [F16Subject to paragraph 2A (loans for repairs and improvements in transitional cases), for the purposes of] paragraph 1(d) “repairs and improvements" means major repairs necessary to maintain the fabric of the home and any of the following measures undertaken with a view to improving its fitness for occupation—

(a)installation of a fixed bath, shower, wash basin or lavatory, and necessary associated plumbing;

(b)damp proofing measures;

(c)provision or improvement of ventilation and natural lighting;

(d)provision of electric lighting and sockets;

(e)provision or improvement of drainage facilities;

(f)improvement of the structural condition of the home;

(g)improvements to the facilities for the storing, preparation and cooking of food;

(h)provision of heating, including central heating;

(i)provision of storage facilities for fuel and refuse;

(j)improvements to the insulation of the home;

(k)other improvements which the [F17Secretary of State] considers reasonable in the circumstances.

Textual Amendments

[F18Loans for repairs and improvements in transitional cases

2A.  In the case of a loan entered into before the first date upon which a maintenance application or enquiry form is given or sent or treated as given or sent to the relevant person, for the purposes of paragraph 1(d) “repairs and improvements” means repairs and improvements of any description whatsoever.]

Textual Amendments

Exempt income: additional provisions relating to eligible housing costs

3.—(1) The additional provisions made by this paragraph shall have effect only for the purpose of calculating or estimating exempt income.

(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (6), where the home of an absent parent or, as the case may be, a parent with care, is subject to a mortgage or charge and that parent [F19is liable to make periodical payments] to reduce the capital secured by that mortgage or charge of an amount provided for in accordance with the terms thereof, [F19those amounts payable] shall be eligible to be taken into account as the housing costs of that parent.

[F20(2A) Where an absent parent or as the case may be a parent with care has entered into a loan for repairs or improvements of a kind referred to in paragraph 1(d) and that parent [F19is liable to make periodical payments] of an amount provided for in accordance with the terms of that loan to reduce the amount of that loan, [F19those amounts payable] shall be eligible to be taken into account as housing costs of that parent.]

(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (6), where the home of an absent parent or, as the case may be, a parent with care, is held under an agreement and [F21certain amounts payable] under that agreement are included as housing costs by virtue of paragraph 1 of this Schedule, [F22any other amounts payable] in accordance with that agreement by the parent in order either—

(a)to reduce his liability under that agreement; or

(b)to acquire the home to which it relates,

shall also be eligible to be taken into account as housing costs.

(4) Where a policy of insurance has been obtained and retained for the purpose of discharging a mortgage or charge on the home of the parent in question, the amount of the [F23premiums payable] under that policy shall be eligible to be taken into account as a housing cost [F24including for the avoidance of doubt such a policy of insurance whose purpose is to secure the payment of monies due under the mortgage or charge in the event of the unemployment, sickness or disability of the insured.]

[F25(4A) Where—

(a)an absent parent or parent with care has obtained a loan which constitutes an eligible housing cost falling within sub-paragraph (d) or (t) of paragraph 1; and

(b)a policy of insurance has been obtained and retained, the purpose of which is solely to secure the payment of monies due under that loan in the event of the unemployment, sickness or disability of the insured person,

the amount of the premiums payable under that policy shall be eligible to be taken into account as a housing cost.]

[F26(5) Where a policy of insurance has been obtained and retained for the purpose of discharging a mortgage or charge on the home of the parent in question and also for the purpose of accruing profits on the maturity of the policy, there shall be eligible to be taken into account as a housing cost—

(a)where the sum secured by the mortgage or charge does not exceed £60,000, the whole of the [F23premiums payable] under that policy; and

(b)where the sum secured by the mortgage or charge exceeds £60,000, the part of the [F23premiums payable] under that policy which are necessarily incurred for the purpose of discharging the mortgage or charge or, where that part cannot be ascertained, 0.0277 per centum of the amount secured by the mortgage or charge.]

[F27(5A) Where a plan within the meaning of regulation 4 of the Personal Equity Plans Regulations 1989 has been obtained and retained for the purpose of discharging a mortgage or charge on the home of the parent in question and also for the purpose of accruing profits upon the realisation of the plan, there shall be eligible to be taken into account as a housing cost—

(a)where the sum secured by the mortgage or charge does not exceed £60,000, the whole of the premiums payable in respect of the plan; and

(b)where the sum secured by the mortgage or charge exceeds £60,000, that part of the premiums payable in respect of the plan which is necessarily incurred for the purpose of discharging the mortgage or charge or, where that part cannot be ascertained, 0.0277 per centum of the amount secured by the mortgage or charge.

(5B) Where a personal pension plan [F28derived from a personal pension scheme] has been obtained and retained for the purpose of discharging a mortgage or charge on the home of the parent in question and also for the purpose of securing the payment of a pension to him, there shall be eligible to be taken into account as a housing cost 25 per centum of the contributions payable in respect of that personal pension plan.]

(6) For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (2) and (3), housing costs shall not include—

(a)[F29any payments in excess of those required] to be made under or in respect of a mortgage, charge or agreement to which either of those sub-paragraphs relate;

(b)[F30amounts payable] under any second or subsequent mortgage on the home to the extent that [F31they would not be eligible] to be taken into account as housing costs;

(c)premiums payable in respect of any policy of insurance against loss caused by the destruction of or damage to any building or land.

Textual Amendments

Conditions relating to eligible housing costs

4.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph the housing costs referred to in this Schedule shall be included as housing costs only where—

[F32(a)they are necessarily incurred for the purpose of purchasing, renting or otherwise securing possession of the home for the parent and his family, or for the purpose of carrying out repairs and improvements to that home;]

(b)the parent or, if he is one of a family, he or a member of his family, is responsible for those costs; and

(c)the liability to meet those costs is to a person other than a member of the same household.

[F33(1A) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(a) “repairs and improvements" shall have the meaning given in paragraph 2 of this Schedule.]

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) a parent shall be treated as responsible for housing costs where—

(a)because the person liable to meet those costs is not doing so, he has to meet those costs in order to continue to live in the home and either he was formerly the partner of the person liable, or he is some other person whom it is reasonable to treat as liable to meet those costs; or

(b)he pays a share of those costs in a case where—

(i)he is living in a household with other persons;

(ii)those other persons include persons who are not close relatives of his or his partner;

(iii)a person who is not such a close relative is responsible for those costs under the preceding provisions of this paragraph or has an equivalent responsibility for housing expenditure; and

(iv)it is reasonable in the circumstances to treat him as sharing that responsibility.

[F34(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), payments on a loan shall constitute an eligible housing cost only if that loan has been obtained for the purposes specified in sub-paragraph (1)(a).

(4) Where a loan has been obtained only partly for the purposes specified in sub-paragraph (1)(a), the eligible housing cost shall be limited to that part of the payment attributable to those purposes.]

Textual Amendments

Accommodation also used for other purposes

5.  Where amounts are payable in respect of accommodation which consists partly of residential accommodation and partly of other accommodation, only such proportion thereof as is attributable to residential accommodation shall be eligible to be taken into account as housing costs.

Ineligible service and fuel charges

6.  Housing costs shall not include—

[F35(a)where the costs are inclusive of ineligible service charges within the meaning of paragraph 1(a)(i) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, paragraph 1(a)(i) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations (ineligible service charges), the amounts specified as ineligible in paragraph 2 of the appropriate Schedule 1;]

F36(aa). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F35(b)where the costs are inclusive of any of the items mentioned in paragraph 6(2) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, paragraph 6(2) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations (payment in respect of fuel charges), the deductions prescribed in that paragraph unless the parent provides evidence on which the actual or approximate amount of the service charge for fuel may be estimated, in which case the estimated amount;]

(c)charges for water, sewerage or allied environmental services and where the amount of such charges is not separately identified, such part of the charges in question as is attributable to those services [F37and

(d)where the costs are inclusive of charges, other than those which are not to be included by virtue of sub-paragraphs (a) to (c), that part of those charges which exceeds the greater of the following amounts—

(i)the total of the charges other than those which are ineligible service charges within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit Regulations (housing costs);

(ii)25 per centum of the total amount of eligible housing costs,

and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph, where the amount of those charges is not separately identifiable, that amount shall be such amount as is reasonably attributable to those charges.]

Textual Amendments

Interpretation

7.  In this Schedule except where the context otherwise requires—

Textual Amendments

Marginal Citations