Rent arrears
12(1)It is an eviction ground that the tenant has been in rent arrears for three or more consecutive months.
(2)The First-tier Tribunal must find that the ground named by sub-paragraph (1) applies if—
(a)at the beginning of the day on which the Tribunal first considers the application for an eviction order on its merits, the tenant—
(i)is in arrears of rent by an amount equal to or greater than the amount which would be payable as one month’s rent under the tenancy on that day, and
(ii)has been in arrears of rent (by any amount) for a continuous period, up to and including that day, of three or more consecutive months, and
(b)the Tribunal is satisfied that the tenant’s being in arrears of rent over that period is not wholly or partly a consequence of a delay or failure in the payment of a relevant benefit.
(3)The First-tier Tribunal may find that the ground named by sub-paragraph (1) applies if—
(a)for three or more consecutive months the tenant has been in arrears of rent, and
(b)the Tribunal is satisfied that it is reasonable on account of that fact to issue an eviction order.
(4)In deciding under sub-paragraph (3) whether it is reasonable to issue an eviction order, the Tribunal is to consider whether the tenant’s being in arrears of rent over the period in question is wholly or partly a consequence of a delay or failure in the payment of a relevant benefit.
(5)For the purposes of this paragraph—
(a)references to a relevant benefit are to—
(i)a rent allowance or rent rebate under the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1971),
(ii)a payment on account awarded under regulation 91 of those Regulations,
(iii)universal credit, where the payment in question included (or ought to have included) an amount under section 11 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 in respect of rent,
(iv)sums payable by virtue of section 73 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980,
(b)references to delay or failure in the payment of a relevant benefit do not include any delay or failure so far as it is referable to an act or omission of the tenant.