The Housing Benefit and Community Charge Benefits (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Regulations 1992

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make further amendments to the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1971) and the Community Charge Benefits (General) Regulations 1989 (S.I. 1989/1321) so that with respect to housing benefit and community charge benefits—

(a) they provide for the calculation of the amount to be deducted in respect of income tax in relation to a claimant’s earnings to take account of the lower rate of income tax and define the expression “lower rate” (regulations 2, 5, 6, 7, 14, 16, 17 and 18);

(b) they specify certain further legislative changes which relate to social security contributions and which authorities may temporarily disregard when calculating a claimant’s income (regulations 4 and 15);

(c) they amend the provisions which specify how notional capital attributed to a claimant is to be reduced, by providing that such notional capital shall be further reduced to take account of the amount of any disability working allowance to which he would have been entitled but for the effect of his notional capital on his entitlement to disability working allowance (regulations 8 and 19).

With respect to housing benefit—

(a) they further define the circumstances in which payments in respect of certain types of accommodation are excluded from housing benefit (regulation 3);

(b) they amend the provisions for calculating the income of a non-dependant by providing a disregard of certain payments (regulation 9);

(c) they further define the evidence and information which may be required in respect of a claim (regulation 10);

(d) they make provision for the payment of withheld rent allowance on the death of the person entitled to that allowance (regulations 11 and 12);

(e) they provide that where a person was, prior to his death, entitled to a payment of rent allowance, which was to be paid to his landlord, any payment outstanding at the date of death is to be paid to that landlord on his written application therefor, up to the amount of rent outstanding (regulation 12);

(f) they amend the statutory reference to a definition of “housing association” (regulation 13).