Notional capital
37.—(1) A relevant person shall be treated as possessing capital of which he has deprived himself for the purpose of increasing the amount of grant.
(2) Except in the case of—
(a)a discretionary trust; or
(b)a trust derived from a payment made in consequence of a personal injury; or
(c)any loan which would be obtained only if secured against capital disregarded under Schedule 4; or
(d)a personal pension scheme or retirement annuity contract,
any capital which would have become available to the relevant person upon application being made, but which has not been acquired by him, shall be treated as possessed by him but only from the date on which it could be expected to have been acquired had an application been made.
(3) Any payment of capital, other than a payment of capital made under the Macfarlane Trust, the Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust, the Macfarlane (Special Payments) (No. 2) Trust, the Fund, the Independent Living (Extension) Fund, the Independent Living (1993) Fund or the Independent Living Fund, made—
(a)to a third party in respect of a single relevant person or in respect of a member of the family (but not a member of the third party’s family) shall be treated as possessed by that single person or by that member to the extent that it is used for the food, ordinary clothing or footwear, household fuel, eligible rates or rent to which regulation 9 or 10 of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 refers, or both, of that single person or, as the case may be, of any member of that family;
(b)to a single relevant person or a member of the family in respect of a third party (but not in respect of another member of that family) shall be treated as possessed by that single person or, as the case may be, that member of the family to the extent that it is kept or used by him or used by or on behalf of any member of the family.
(4) Where a relevant person stands in relation to a company in a position analogous to that of a sole owner or partner in the business of that company, he may be treated as if he were such sole owner or partner and in such a case—
(a)the value of his holding in that company shall, notwithstanding regulation 32 (determination of capital), be disregarded; and
(b)he shall, subject to paragraph (5), be treated as possessing an amount of capital equal to the value or, as the case may be, his share of the value of the capital of the company and the foregoing provisions of this Chapter shall apply for the purposes of determining that amount as if it were actual capital which he does possess.
(5) For so long as the relevant person undertakes activities in the course of the business of the company, the amount which he is treated as possessing under paragraph (4) shall be disregarded.
(6) Where a relevant person is treated as possessing capital under any of paragraphs (1) to (3) the foregoing provisions of the Chapter shall apply for the purposes of determining its amount as if it were actual capital which he does possess.
(7) In paragraph (3)—
(a)“rates or rent” means eligible rates or rent to which regulations 9 or 10, as the case may be, of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 refer, less any deductions in respect of non-dependants which fall to be made under regulation 63 (non-dependant deductions) of those Regulations;
(b)“ordinary clothing or footwear” means clothing or footwear for normal daily use, but does not include school uniforms, or clothing or footwear used solely for sporting activities.