The Housing Benefit and Council tax Benefit (Subsidy) Order 1995

Interpretation of Part II

2.—(1) In this Part of this Order, unless the context otherwise requires—

“allowance” means a rent allowance;

“authority” means a housing or, as the case may be, local authority;

“board and lodging accommodation” means—

(a)

accommodation provided for a charge which is inclusive of the provision of that accommodation and at least some cooked or prepared meals which are both cooked or prepared and consumed in that accommodation or associated premises; or

(b)

accommodation provided in a hotel, guest house, lodging house or some similar establishment, but it does not include accommodation in a residential care home or nursing home within the meaning of regulation 19(3) of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987(1) nor in a hostel within the meaning of regulation 12A of the Housing Benefit Regulations(2);

“development corporation” has the meaning ascribed to it in section 2 of the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968(3);

“housing benefit subsidy” means subsidy under section 135(1) of the Act (rate rebate, rent rebate and rent allowance subsidy payable) and under section 30(1A) of the Social Security Act 1986(4) (community charge rebate subsidy payable);

“rebate” means a rent rebate excluding, in the case of England and Wales, any Housing Revenue Account rebates(5);

“relevant date” has the meaning it is given for the purposes of Schedule 6 in paragraph 7 of that Schedule;

“scheme” means the housing benefit scheme as defined in section 123 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(6);

“the Housing Benefit Regulations” means the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987(7);

“the Rent Officers Order” means the Rent Officers (Additional Functions) Order 1990(8) or, as the case may be, the Rent Officers (Additional Functions) (Scotland) Order 1990(9);

“termination date” has the meaning it is given for the purposes of Schedule 6 in paragraph 8 of that Schedule, and other expressions used in this Order and in the Housing Benefit Regulations shall have the same meanings in this Order as in those Regulations.

(2) In this Part of this Order—

“housing benefit qualifying expenditure” means the total of rebates and allowances, including any payments under regulation 91 of the Housing Benefit Regulations (payments on account of a rent allowance), granted by the authority during the relevant year, less—

(a) the deduction, if any, calculated for that authority in article 6;

(b) any allowances to which paragraph (7) of article 8 or paragraph 6 of Schedule 6, as the case may be, apply;

(c) any rebates to which paragraph (4) of article 9 applies;

(d) the deductions specified in article 11, and

(e) where, under subsection (8) of section 134 of the Act(10) (arrangements for housing benefit), the authority has modified any part of the scheme administered by it, any amount by which the total of the rebates or allowances which it granted under the scheme during the relevant year exceeds the total of those which it would have granted if the scheme had not been so modified.

(1)

S.I. 1987/1967; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1988/663, 1445, 2022, 1989/1678, 1992/3147 and 1993/2119.

(2)

Regulation 12A was inserted by regulation 5 of S.I. 1990/546 and amended by S.I. 1993/317.

(3)

1968 c. 16.

(4)

1968 c. 50; section 30(1A) was inserted by regulation 5(b) of S.I. 1988/1483. It was only payable in respect of Scotland in 1988/89.

(5)

See the definition of “relevant benefit” in section 135(3) of the Social Security Administratiom Act 1992.

(6)

1992 c. 4.

(7)

S.I. 1987/1971, amended by S.I. 1988/661, 909, 1444, 1843, 1971, 1989/43, 416, 566, 1017, 1322, 1990/546, 671, 1549, 1657, 1775, 2564, 1991/235, 1599, 2910, 1992/50, 201, 432, 1026, 1101, 1326, 1585, 2148, 3147, 1993/317, 518, 963, 1150, 1249, 1540, 2118, 1994/470, 578, 1003, 2137 and 3061.

(8)

S.I. 1990/428, amended by S.I. 1991/426, 1993/652, 1994/568 and 3040.

(9)

S.I. 1990/396, amended by S.I. 1991/533, 1993/646, 1994/582 and 3108.

(10)

Section 134(8) allows modification of the housing benefit scheme so as to provide for the disregard from income of a war disablement pension or a war widow’s pension.