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Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland


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STATUTORY RULES OF NORTHERN IRELAND


2006 No. 405

HOUSING; RATES

The Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

  Made 12th October 2006 
  Coming into operation 20th November 2006 


CONTENTS


PART I

General
1. Citation and commencement
2. Interpretation
3. Definition of non-dependant
4. Cases in which section 1(1A) of the Administration Act is disapplied
5. Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit
6. Remunerative work

PART II

Provisions affecting entitlement to housing benefit
7. Circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home
8. Circumstances in which a person is to be treated as liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling
9. Circumstances in which a person is to be treated as not liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling
10. Persons from abroad

PART III

Payments in respect of a dwelling
11. Eligible housing costs
12. Rates
13. Rent
14. Maximum rent
15. Decisions
16. Pre-tenancy decisions

PART IV

Membership of a family
17. Persons of prescribed description
18. Circumstances in which a person is to be treated as responsible or not responsible for another
19. Circumstances in which a person is to be treated as being or not being a member of the household

PART V

Applicable amounts
20. Applicable amounts
21. Polygamous marriages

PART VI

Income and capital
SECTION 1
General
22. Calculation of income and capital of members of claimant's family and of a polygamous marriage
23. Circumstances in which income and capital of non-dependant is to be treated as claimant's
SECTION 2
Income
24. Calculation of income on a weekly basis
25. Treatment of child care charges
26. Average weekly earnings of employed earners
27. Average weekly earnings of self-employed earners
28. Average weekly income other than earnings
29. Calculation of average weekly income from tax credits
30. Calculation of weekly income
31. Disregard of changes in tax, contributions etc.
SECTION 3
Employed earners
32. Earnings of employed earners
33. Calculation of net earnings of employed earners
SECTION 4
Self-employed earners
34. Earnings of self-employed earners
35. Calculation of net profit of self-employed earners
36. Deduction of tax and contributions of self-employed earners
SECTION 5
Other income
37. Calculation of income other than earnings
38. Capital treated as income
39. Notional income
SECTION 6
Capital
40. Capital limit
41. Calculation of capital
42. Disregard of capital of child and young person
43. Income treated as capital
44. Calculation of capital in the United Kingdom
45. Calculation of capital outside the United Kingdom
46. Notional capital
47. Diminishing notional capital rule
48. Capital jointly held
49. Calculation of tariff income from capital

PART VII

Students
SECTION 1
General
50. Interpretation
51. Treatment of students
SECTION 2
Entitlement and payments in respect of a dwelling
52. Occupying a dwelling as a person's home
53. Full-time students to be treated as not liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling
54. Student's eligible housing costs
55. Student partners
SECTION 3
Income
56. Calculation of grant income
57. Calculation of covenant income where a contribution is assessed
58. Covenant income where no grant income or no contribution is assessed
59. Relationship with amounts to be disregarded under Schedule 6
60. Other amounts to be disregarded
61. Treatment of student loans
62. Treatment of fee loans
63. Treatment of payments from access funds
64. Disregard of contribution and rent
65. Further disregard of student's income
66. Amounts treated as capital
67. Disregard of changes occurring during summer vacation

PART VIII

Amount of benefit
68. Maximum housing benefit
69. Housing benefit tapers
70. Extended payments
71. Extended payments (severe disablement allowance and incapacity benefit)
72. Non-dependant deductions
73. Minimum housing benefit

PART IX

Calculation of weekly amounts and changes of circumstances
74. Date on which entitlement is to commence
75. Date on which housing benefit is to end
76. Date on which housing benefit is to end where entitlement to severe disablement allowance or incapacity benefit ceases
77. Date on which change of circumstances is to take effect
78. Calculation of weekly amounts
79. Rent and rate-free periods

PART X

Claims
80. Who may claim
81. Time and manner in which claims are to be made
82. Evidence and information
83. Amendment and withdrawal of claim
84. Duty to notify changes of circumstances

PART XI

Decisions on questions
85. Decisions by a relevant authority
86. Notification of decisions

PART XII

Payments
87. Time and manner of payment
88. Circumstances in which a rate rebate may be treated as if it fell to be paid as a rent allowance
89. Frequency of payment of a rent allowance
90. Payment on account of a rent allowance
91. Payment to be made to a person entitled
92. Circumstances in which payment is to be made to a landlord or the Department of Finance and Personnel
93. Circumstances in which payment may be made to a landlord or the Department of Finance and Personnel
94. Payment on death of the person entitled
95. Offsetting

PART XIII

Overpayments
96. Meaning of overpayment
97. Recoverable overpayments
98. Person from whom recovery may be sought
99. Method of recovery
100. Diminution of capital
101. Sums to be deducted in calculating recoverable overpayments
102. Recovery of overpayments from prescribed benefits
103. Prescribed benefits
104. Restrictions on recovery of rent and consequent modifications

PART XIV

Information from landlords and agents
105. Interpretation
106. Requiring information
107. Circumstances for requiring information
108. Relevant information
109. Manner of supply of information
110. Criminal offence

  SCHEDULE 1— Ineligible service charges
 PART I— Service charges other than for fuel
 PART II— Payments in respect of fuel charges

  SCHEDULE 2— Decisions of rent payable96
 PART I— Decisions
 PART II— Assumptions etc.
 PART III— Indicative rent levels
 PART IV— Size criteria
 PART V— Special cases
 PART VI— Interpretation

  SCHEDULE 3— Excluded tenancies103

  SCHEDULE 4— Applicable amounts
 PART I— Personal allowances
 PART II— Family premium
 PART III— Premiums
 PART IV— Amounts of premiums specified in Part III

  SCHEDULE 5— Sums to be disregarded in the calculation of earnings

  SCHEDULE 6— Sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings

  SCHEDULE 7— Capital to be disregarded130

  SCHEDULE 8— Extended payments of housing benefit139
 PART I— Conditions for an extended payment
 PART II— Calculation and payment of an extended payment
 PART III— Adjustment of entitlement in respect of an extended payment
 PART IV— Interpretation

  SCHEDULE 9— Extended payments (severe disablement allowance and incapacity benefit) of housing benefit142

  SCHEDULE 10— Matters to be included in decision notice145
 PART I— General
 PART II— Awards where income support or an income-based jobseeker's allowance is payable
 PART III— Awards where no income support or an income-based jobseeker's allowance is payable
 PART IV— Awards where direct payments made to landlords
 PART V— Notice where income of non-dependant is treated as claimant's
 PART VI— Notice where no award is made
 PART VII— Notice where recoverable overpayment
 PART VIII— Notice following a decision on a work-focused interview

The Department for Social Development makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 122(1)(d), 129(2), (3) and (4), 130, 131(1), (2) and (6), 132, 133, 171(1) and (3) to (5) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992[
1], sections 1(1) and (1C), 5(1)(a) to (d) and (g) to (t) and (5), 73, 107, 119A, 126(4) and (5) and 165(1) and (4) to (6) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992[2] and Articles 34 and 74(1) and (3) of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998[3] and now vested in it[4].

     The Regulations are made with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel[5].



PART I

General

Citation and commencement
     1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and shall come into operation on 20th November 2006.

    (2) These Regulations are to be read, where appropriate, with the Consequential Provisions Regulations and, in a case where regulation 5(2) applies, with the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006[
6].

    (3) The regulations consolidated by these Regulations are revoked, in consequence of the consolidation, by the Consequential Provisions Regulations.

Interpretation
     2. —(1) In these Regulations—

and for the purposes of paragraph (d), 2 people of the same sex are to be regarded as living together as if they were civil partners if, but only if, they would be regarded as living together as husband and wife were they instead 2 people of the opposite sex;

but it does not include an allowance paid by any government department to, or in respect of, a person by reason of the fact that he is following a course of full-time education, other than under arrangements provided under sections 2 and 3 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act (Northern Ireland) 1945[41] or made under section 1(1) of the 1950 Act, or is training as a teacher;

    (2) References in these Regulations to a person who is liable to make payments shall include references to a person who is treated as so liable under regulation 8.

    (3) For the purposes of these Regulations, a person is on an income-based jobseeker's allowance on any day in respect of which an income-based jobseeker's allowance is payable to him and on any day—

    (4) For the purposes of these Regulations, the following shall be treated as included in a dwelling—

    (5) Subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[50] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

    (6) For the purposes of these Regulations and notwithstanding section 39(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, where a period of time is expressed to begin on, or to be reckoned from, a particular day, that day shall be included in the period.

    (7) Without prejudice to any other method of service authorised under section 24 of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, the requirement to send any document under these Regulations may be met by sending it by ordinary post.

Definition of non-dependant
     3. —(1) In these Regulations, "non-dependant" means any person, except someone to whom paragraph (2) applies, who normally resides with a claimant or with whom a claimant normally resides.

    (2) This paragraph applies to—

    (3) Sub-paragraphs (d) and (e) of paragraph (2) shall not apply to any person who is treated as if he were not liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling under regulation 9(1).

    (4) For the purposes of this regulation and regulation 9 a person resides with another only if they share any accommodation except a bathroom, a lavatory or a communal area within the meaning prescribed in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 but not if each person is separately liable to make payments in respect of his occupation of the dwelling to the landlord.

Cases in which section 1(1A) of the Administration Act is disapplied
    
4. Section 1(1A) of the Administration Act[51] (requirement to state national insurance number) shall not apply—

Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit
     5. —(1) These Regulations apply to a person who—

    (2) Regulation 70 and Schedule 8 (extended payments) apply to a person if he, or if he has a partner, his partner, has attained the qualifying age for state pension credit.

    (3) Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2), these Regulations shall not apply in relation to any person if he, or if he has a partner, his partner, has attained the qualifying age for state pension credit.

Remunerative work
    
6. —(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, a person shall be treated for the purposes of these Regulations as engaged in remunerative work if he is engaged, or, where his hours of work fluctuate, he is engaged on average, for not less than 16 hours a week, in work for which payment is made or which is done in expectation of payment.

    (2) Subject to paragraph (3), in determining the number of hours for which a person is engaged in work where his hours of work fluctuate, regard shall be had to the average of hours worked over—

    (3) Where, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), a person's recognisable cycle of work at a school, other educational establishment or other place of employment is one year and includes periods of school holidays or similar vacations during which he does not work, those periods and any other periods not forming part of such holidays or vacations during which he is not required to work shall be disregarded in establishing the average hours for which he is engaged in work.

    (4) Where no recognisable cycle has been established in respect of a person's work, regard shall be had to the number of hours or, where those hours will fluctuate, the average of the hours, which he is expected to work in a week.

    (5) A person shall be treated as engaged in remunerative work during any period for which he is absent from work referred to in paragraph (1) if the absence is either without good cause or by reason of a recognised, customary or other holiday.

    (6) A person on income support or an income-based jobseeker's allowance for more than 3 days in any benefit week shall be treated as not being in remunerative work in that week.

    (7) A person shall not be treated as engaged in remunerative work on any day on which the person is on maternity leave, paternity leave or adoption leave, or is absent from work because he is ill.

    (8) A person shall not be treated as engaged in remunerative work on any day on which he is engaged in an activity in respect of which—



PART II

Provisions affecting entitlement to housing benefit

Circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home
    
7. —(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, a person shall be treated as occupying as his home the dwelling normally occupied as his home—

and shall not be treated as occupying any other dwelling as his home.

    (2) In determining whether a dwelling is the dwelling normally occupied as a person's home for the purpose of paragraph (1) regard shall be had to any other dwelling occupied by that person or any other person referred to in paragraph (1) whether or not that dwelling is in Northern Ireland.

    (3) Where a single claimant or a lone parent is a student, other than one to whom regulation 53(1) applies, or is on a training course and is liable to make payments (including payments of mortgage interest or analogous payments) in respect of either (but not both) the dwelling which he occupies for the purpose of attending his course of study or, his training course, or as the case may be, the dwelling which he occupies when not attending his course, he shall be treated as occupying as his home the dwelling in respect of which he is liable to make such payments.

    (4) Where a claimant has been required to move into temporary accommodation by reason of essential repairs being carried out to the dwelling normally occupied as his home, and is liable to make payments (including payments of mortgage interest or analogous payments) in respect of either (but not both) the dwelling which he normally occupied as his home or the temporary accommodation, he shall be treated as occupying as his home the dwelling in respect of which he is liable to make payments.

    (5) Where a person is required by a court to reside in a dwelling which is a hostel, he shall not be treated as occupying that dwelling as his home.

    (6) Where a person is liable to make payments in respect of 2 (but not more than 2) dwellings, he shall be treated as occupying both dwellings as his home only—

    (7) Where—

he shall be treated as occupying the former dwelling as his home for a period not exceeding 4 benefit weeks if he could not reasonably have avoided liability in respect of that former dwelling.

    (8) Where a person—


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