The Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2000 No. 65

HOUSING

The Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Made

9th March 2000

Coming into operation

1st April 2000

The Department for Social Development, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 122(1)(d), 133(2)(h) and 171(1), (3) and (4) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(1) and now vested in it(2), and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 1st April 2000.

(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(3) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

Amendment of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations

2.  In regulation 5 of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home)(4) after paragraph (4) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(4A) 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.”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 9th March 2000.

L.S.

John O'Neill

Senior Officer of the

Department for Social Development

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations further amend regulation 5 of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987.

Regulation 2 provides that a person who is required by a court to reside in a dwelling which is a hostel shall not be treated as occupying that dwelling as his home. The effect is that a person will not be entitled to housing benefit in respect of that dwelling.

These Regulations 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 Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

(1)

1992 c. 7

(2)

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)

(3)

1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

(4)

S.R. 1987 No. 461, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations