The Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 3) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

Insertion of Schedule 1C into the principal Regulations

8.  After Schedule 1B to the principal Regulations(1) (excluded tenancies) there shall be inserted the following Schedule—

Regulation 10 and Schedule 1

“SCHEDULE 1C Service Charges for Claimants in Supported Accommodation

1.   Subject to paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 (ineligible service charges), the service charges specified in paragraphs 2 to 4 shall be eligible to be met by housing benefit.

2.   The service charges in respect of general counselling or other support which fall under this paragraph are—

(a) charges in respect of time spent in the provision of general counselling or other support which assists the claimant with maintaining the security of the dwelling he occupies as his home;

(b) charges in respect of time spent in the provision of general counselling or other support which assists the claimant with maintaining the safety of the dwelling he occupies as his home (including making arrangements for the checking of the claimant’s own appliances where these could pose a safety hazard);

(c) charges in respect of time spent in the provision of general counselling or other support which is directed at assisting the claimant with compliance with those terms in his tenancy agreement concerned with—

(i) nuisance;

(ii) rental liability;

(iii) maintenance of the interior of the dwelling in an appropriate condition, and

(iv) the period for which the tenancy is granted,

such charges to include those in respect of time spent in the provision of general counselling or other support which assists the claimant with contacts with individuals or professional or other bodies with an interest in ensuring his welfare, and

(d) provided that they are not charges specified in any of sub-paragraphs (a) to (c), charges in respect of the time spent in the provision of general counselling or other support which is provided to the claimant—

(i) by either a resident warden or a non-resident warden with a system for calling him;

(ii) in accommodation which it is the practice of the landlord to let for occupation by persons in need of general counselling or other support services where the dwelling is one of a group of dwellings and that warden provides services which are wholly or mainly for the purposes of assisting persons in those dwellings.

3.   The service charges in respect of the cleaning of rooms and windows which fall under this paragraph are those where neither the claimant nor any member of his household is able to clean them himself.

4.   The service charges in respect of the provision of an emergency alarm system which fall under this paragraph are those where the emergency alarm system is provided in accommodation which is occupied by elderly, sick or disabled persons and such accommodation, apart from the alarm system, is either—

(a) specifically designed or adapted for such persons, or

(b) otherwise particularly suitable for them, having regard to its size, heating system and other major features or facilities.”.

(1)

Schedule 1B was inserted by regulation 15 of S.R. 1996 No. 111