Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
HOUSING; RATES
Made
12th January 2000
Coming into operation in accordance with Regulation 1(1)
The Department for Social Development, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 1(1C)(c), 5(1)(a) and (d), 119A and 165(3), (4) and (5) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(1) and sections 122(1)(d), 129(2) to (4) and 171(3) and (4) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(2) and now vested in it(3), and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel(4) in so far as regulations 3, 9 and 10 are concerned, and after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee that proposals in respect of these Regulations should not be referred to it(5), hereby makes the following Regulations:
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation as follows—
(a)for the purposes of this regulation and regulations 2, 3, 9 and 10 on 3rd February 2000;
(b)for the purposes of regulation 4—
(i)in any case where rent is payable at intervals of a whole number of weeks, on 3rd April 2000, and
(ii)in any other case, on 1st April 2000;
(c)for the purposes of regulations 5, 6 and 7 on 3rd April 2000, and
(d)for the purposes of regulation 8 on 1st April 2000.
(2) In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(6).
(3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(7) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
2. For regulation 5 of the Housing Benefit (Information from Landlords and Agents) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997(8) (manner of supply of information) there shall be substituted the following regulation—
5.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) the relevant information shall be supplied—
(a)in typewritten or printed form, or
(b)with the written agreement of the requirer, in electronic or handwritten form,
within a period of 4 weeks commencing on and including the date on which the notice was sent or given.
(2) Where—
(a)within a period of 4 weeks commencing on and including the date on which the notice was sent or given, the supplier requests that the time for supply of the relevant information be extended, and
(b)the requirer provides written agreement to that request,
the time for supply of the relevant information shall be extended to a period of 8 weeks commencing on and including the date on which the notice was sent or given.”.
3. In regulation 2B of the principal Regulations (cases in which section 1(1A) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 is disapplied)(9) for the words after “shall not apply” to the end there shall be substituted—
“—
(a)to a claim for housing benefit where the person making the claim, or in respect of whom the claim is made, is liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling which is a hostel, or
(b)to any child or young person in respect of whom housing benefit is claimed.”.
4.—(1) Regulation 11 of the principal Regulations (maximum rent)(10) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).
(2) In paragraphs (2), (4), (5), (5C), (5D)(11) and (7) for the words “relevant rent” wherever they appear there shall be substituted the words “claim-related rent”.
(3) In paragraph (11) sub-paragraph (a) shall be omitted.
(4) In paragraph (16)—
(a)the definitions of “deduction for fuel”, “property-specific rent”, “relevant rent” and “size-related rent” shall be omitted, and
(b)the following definition shall be inserted in the appropriate place—
““claim-related rent” means the rent determined by the Executive under paragraph 5 of Schedule 1A (determinations)(12);”.
5. In regulation 66 of the principal Regulations (benefit period)(13)—
(a)in paragraph (3) for “paragraph (4)” there shall be substituted “paragraph (4) or (5)”;
(b)after paragraph (4) there shall be added the following paragraph—
“(5) Where the Executive has made a determination following notification by a claimant of a change of circumstances specified in paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 1B (excluded tenancies), the Executive shall extend that claimant’s current benefit period by a further period of not more than 60 benefit weeks.”.
6.—(1) Schedule 1A to the principal Regulations (determinations)(14) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (8).
(2) In paragraph 3(2)(c) at the end there shall be added “at the relevant time”.
(3) In paragraph 4(2)—
(a)in head (b) after “of the dwelling” there shall be inserted “at the relevant time”;
(b)in sub-head (ii) after “under the tenancy” there shall be inserted “at the relevant time”.
(4) In paragraph 4(3)—
(a)at the end of head (b) there shall be added “and”;
(b)after head (b) there shall be added the following head—
“(c)shall exclude the amount of any rent which, in the Executive’s opinion, is fairly attributable to the provision of any of the following services—
(i)the cleaning of rooms and windows (except services specified in paragraphs (a)(iv)(aa) or (bb) of paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 (ineligible service charges);
(ii)the provision of an emergency alarm system;
(iii)medical expenses;
(iv)the provision of nursing care or personal care, and
(v)general counselling or other support services,
and which is not excluded by virtue of head (b).”.
(5) In paragraph 4(5) after the words “but not” to the end there shall be substituted—
“in the case of a tenancy where a substantial part of the rent under the tenancy is fairly attributable to board and attendance, the provision of meals (including the preparation of meals or provision of unprepared food).”.
(6) For paragraph 5 there shall be substituted the following paragraph—
5.—(1) In this paragraph, “claim-related rent” means—
(a)where the Executive makes a determination under sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 1, sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 2 and sub-paragraph (3) of paragraph 3, the lowest of the three rents determined under those sub-paragraphs;
(b)where the Executive makes a determination under only two of the sub-paragraphs referred to in head (a), the lower of the two rents determined under those sub-paragraphs;
(c)where the Executive makes a determination under only one of the sub-paragraphs referred to in head (a), the rent determined under that sub-paragraph;
(d)where the Executive does not make a determination under any of the sub-paragraphs referred to in head (a), the rent payable under the tenancy of the dwelling at the relevant time.
(2) Where the Executive makes any determination under paragraphs 1, 2 or 3, it shall also determine which rent is the claim-related rent.
(3) Where the dwelling is not in a hostel, the Executive shall also determine the total amount of ineligible charges, as defined in paragraph 6, which it has not included in the claim-related rent because of the assumptions made in accordance with that paragraph.”.
(7) For paragraph 6 there shall be substituted the following paragraph—
6.—(1) For the purposes of this paragraph—
(a)“ineligible charges” means service charges which are ineligible to be met by housing benefit by virtue of regulation 10(3) (rent) and Schedule 1 (ineligible service charges) except—
(i)any support charges, and
(ii)in the case of a tenancy where the rent includes payments for board and attendance, and the Executive considers that a substantial part of the rent under the tenancy is fairly attributable to board and attendance, charges specified in paragraph 1(a)(i) of Schedule 1 (charges for meals), and
(b)“support charges” means any charges to which the following paragraphs apply—
(a)the cleaning of rooms and windows (except services specified in sub-paragraphs (a)(iv)(aa) or (bb) of paragraph (1) of Schedule 1 (ineligible service charges));
(b)the provision of an emergency alarm system;
(c)medical expenses;
(d)the provision of nursing care or personal care, and
(e)general counselling or other support services.
(2) When making a determination under paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of Schedule 1, the Executive shall assume that—
(a)the items to which the ineligible charges relate, and
(b)the items to which the support charges relate,
were not to be provided or made available.”.
(8) In paragraph 8(4)—
(a)at the end of head (b) there shall be added “and”;
(b)after head (b) there shall be added the following head—
“(c)shall exclude the amount of any rent which, in the Executive’s opinion, is fairly attributable to the provision of any of the following services—
(i)the cleaning of rooms and windows (except services specified in sub-paragraphs (a)(iv)(aa) or (bb) of paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 (ineligible service charges);
(ii)the provision of an emergency alarm system;
(iii)medical expenses;
(iv)the provision of nursing care or personal care, and
(v)general counselling or other support services,
and which is not excluded by virtue of head (b).”.
7. In Schedule 1B to the principal Regulations (excluded tenancies)(15) for sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 2 there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—
“(2) Sub-paragraph (1) shall cease to apply where—
(a)a claimant has submitted a further claim for housing benefit and either—
(i)that claim follows a benefit period or consecutive benefit periods in respect of a previous claim or claims which he has made which, in either case, subsisted continuously for 52 weeks or more, or
(ii)his last benefit period was extended in accordance with regulation 66(5) (benefit period) and subsisted continuously for 52 weeks or more following that extension, or
(b)in any other case, the determination mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) was made more than 12 months before the date on which the Executive received the claim or request in question.”.
8. Where the Executive in respect of a rent allowance—
(a)receives a claim or a notification of a change of circumstances before 3rd April 2000, or
(b)receives a request for a review of a determination on or after 3rd April 2000 where the original determination was made before 3rd April 2000,
it shall apply regulation 11 of the principal Regulations (maximum rent) to the relevant claim or award as if regulation 4 of these Regulations had not been made.
9. In Schedule 5A to the principal Regulations (extended payments of housing benefit)(16) in paragraph 10 for “the liability for rates” there shall be substituted “the liability to rates”.
10. In regulation 4 of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999(17) in paragraph (5)(d) for “4 weeks liability for rates” where it appears in quotes there shall be substituted “4 weeks liability to rates”.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 12th January 2000.
L.S.
John O'Neill
Senior Officer of the
Department for Social Development
The Department of Finance and Personnel hereby consents to regulations 3, 9 and 10 of the foregoing Regulations.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 13th January 2000.
L.S.
J. G. Sullivan
Senior Officer of the
Department of Finance and Personnel
(This note is not part of the Regulations.)
These Regulations amend the Housing Benefit (Information from Landlords and Agents) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 and further amend the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the Housing Benefit Regulations”).
Regulation 2 amends the Housing Benefit (Information from Landlords and Agents) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 and provides that a request for an extension of time in which to supply information must be made within 4 weeks from the date on which the notice requesting the information was sent or given.
Regulation 3 amends regulation 2B of the Housing Benefit Regulations. This disapplies section 1(1A) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 so that children and young persons are not required to supply a national insurance number in connection with a claim.
Regulation 4 further amends regulation 11 (maximum rent) of the Housing Benefit Regulations. There is a new definition of “claim-related rent” which replaces the existing definitions of “property specific rent” and “relevant rent”.
Regulation 5 amends regulation 66 (benefit period) of the Housing Benefit Regulations, and provides for the Executive to extend the current benefit period by not more than 60 benefit weeks where it makes a determination following notification by the claimant of a prescribed change of circumstances.
Regulation 6 amends Schedule 1A (determinations) of the Housing Benefit Regulations which requires the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to determine a claim-related rent and where the dwelling is not in a hostel to determine the total amount of ineligible charges to be excluded from that rent. The Executive must also exclude eligible service charges (except certain meal charges) and certain other service charges for claimant in supported accommodation.
Regulation 7 amends the definition of an “excluded tenancy” in Schedule 1B (excluded tenancies) to the principal Regulations.
Regulation 8 makes transitional provision in respect of a rent allowance so that a claim or a notification of a change of circumstances made before 3rd April 2000, or a request for a review made on or after 3rd April 2000 where the original determination was made before that date, is determined for the purposes of the maximum rent under the provisions operating before 3rd April 2000.
Regulations 9 and 10 make minor technical amendments to the wording contained in regulation 10 of the Housing Benefit Regulations and in regulation 4 of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999.
In so far as these Regulations are required, for the purposes of regulations 3, 9 and 10 to be referred to the Social Security Advisory Committee under section 149(2) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8), (“the 1992 Act”), after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee, they have not been so referred by virtue of section 150(1)(b) of that Act. Otherwise they make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Social Security in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the 1992 Act, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.
1992 c. 8; section 1(1C) was inserted by Article 18 of, and section 119A was inserted by Article 10 of, the Social Security Administration (Fraud) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/1182) (N.I. 11))
See Article 8(b) of, and Part II of Schedule 6 to, the Departments (Transfer and Assignment of Functions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 481)
See section 171(6A) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 as inserted by Article 3(3) of the Social Security (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 (S.I. 1993/1579 (N.I. 8)) consent function transferred from the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland to the Department of Finance and Personnel; see Article 6(b) of, and Part II of Schedule 4 to, the Departments (Transfer and Assignment of Functions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999
See section 150(1)(b) of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992
S.R. 1987 No. 461; relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1996 Nos. 111, 115, 181 and 334, S.R. 1997 No. 170, S.R. 1998 No. 81 and S.R. 1999 Nos. 372 and 416
Regulation 2B was inserted by regulation 2 of S.R. 1999 No. 372
Regulation 11 was substituted by regulation 7 of S.R. 1996 No. 111 and amended by S.R. 1996 No. 181, S.R. 1997 No. 170 and S.R. 1998 No. 81
Paragraphs (5C) and (5D) were inserted by regulation 5 of S.R. 1999 No. 416
Paragraph 5 is substituted by regulation 6(6) of these Regulations
Regulation 66 was amended by S.R. 1996 No. 334
Schedule 1A was inserted by regulation 15 of S.R. 1996 No. 111
Schedule 1B was inserted by regulation 15 of S.R. 1996 No. 111
Schedule 5A was inserted by regulation 6 of S.R. 1996 No. 115