The Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance, Information Sharing and Miscellaneous) Amendment Regulations 2008

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend:

• the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 (“the Housing Benefit Regulations”)

• the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 (“the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations”)

• the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance and Information Sharing) Amendment Regulations 2007 (“the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations”)

• the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) (Local Housing Allowance and Information Sharing) Amendment Regulations 2007 (“the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations”)

• the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance, Miscellaneous and Consequential) Amendment Regulations 2007 (“the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Miscellaneous Regulations”)

Regulation 2 amends regulation 101 of the Housing Benefit Regulations. It inserts a new paragraph (2A) which provides that where a claimant’s housing benefit exceeds the amount he is liable to pay to the landlord as rent and there is an overpayment that is recoverable from the claimant’s landlord, the local authority cannot recover from the landlord more than the amount that was paid to him.

Regulation 3 makes the same amendment to the equivalent provision of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations.

Regulation 4 makes amendments to the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations. Paragraph (2) amends cross-references in the amendments made in regulation 3 of the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations.

Paragraph (3) substitutes a new definition of “registered housing association” to include the definition of “the Corporation”.

Paragraph (4) amends regulation 13C of the Housing Benefit Regulations, as inserted by regulation 7 of the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations, to add certain types of former local authority property to the categories of cases to which the local housing allowance arrangements do not apply. It also clarifies the meaning of “size criteria” in regulation 13D(2) of the Housing Benefit Regulations as inserted by regulation 7 of the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations.

Paragraph (5) makes an amendment to regulation 14 of the Housing Benefit Regulations as substituted by regulation 8 of the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations. This is to provide a mechanism for referring cases to rent officers for determinations where a claimant’s circumstances change so that he falls within one of the categories of cases where the local housing allowance arrangements do not apply.

Paragraph (6) amends a reference in regulation 19 of the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations.

Regulation 5 makes similar amendments to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations with some minor differences. Paragraph (3) also amends regulation 13D(2)(a)(i) of the Housing Benefit Regulations, as inserted by regulation 7 of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations, to clarify that the provision applies where the claimant’s partner is a care leaver.

Paragraph (5) amends regulation 15 of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) (Local Housing Allowance) Regulations to correct the amendment being made by that regulation.

Regulation 6 amends regulation 4 of the Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) Miscellaneous Regulations. Paragraph (2) clarifies the provisions referred to in paragraph (2) of the inserted regulation 7A of the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/1002) (“the Decisions and Appeals Regulations”). Paragraph (3) amends the substituted regulation 8(15) in the Decisions and Appeals Regulations.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has only a negligible impact on the private or voluntary sectors.