The Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

Housing costs not met

6.—(1) No amount may be met under the provisions of this Schedule—

(a) in respect of housing benefit expenditure; or

(b) where the claimant is living in a residential care home, a nursing home, an Abbeyfield Home or an independent hospital except where the claimant is living in such a home or hospital during a temporary absence from the dwelling which the claimant occupies as the home and in so far as they relate to temporary absences, the provisions of paragraph 5(8) to (12) apply to that claimant during that absence.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, loans which, apart from this paragraph, qualify under paragraph 16 must not so qualify where the loan was incurred during the relevant period and was incurred—

(a) after 27th October 2008;

(b) after 2nd May 1994 and the housing costs applicable to that loan were not met by virtue of the former paragraph 5A of Schedule 3 to the Income Support Regulations(1), or paragraph 4(2)(a) of that Schedule, paragraph 4(2)(a) of Schedule 2 to the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations or paragraph 5(2)(a) of Schedule 2 to the State Pension Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003; or

(c) subject to sub-paragraph (3), in the 26 weeks preceding 27th October 2008 by a person—

(i) who was not at that time entitled to income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance or state pension credit, and

(ii) who becomes, or whose partner becomes, entitled to an income-related allowance after 27th October 2008 and that entitlement is within 26 weeks of an earlier entitlement to income support, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or state pension credit of the claimant or the claimant’s partner.

(3) Sub-paragraph (2)(c) shall not apply in respect of a loan where the claimant has interest payments on that loan met without restrictions under an award of income support in respect of a period commencing before 27th October 2008.

(4) The “relevant period” for the purposes of this paragraph is any period during which the person to whom the loan was made—

(a) is entitled to an income-related allowance, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income support or state pension credit; or

(b) has a partner and the partner is entitled to an income-related allowance, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income support or state pension credit,

together with any linked period, that is to say a period falling between 2 periods separated by not more than 26 weeks in which either head (a) or (b) is satisfied.

(5) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (4), a person is to be treated as entitled to an income-related allowance during any period when that person or that person’s partner was not so entitled because—

(a) that person or that person’s partner was participating in an employment programme specified in regulation 75(1)(a) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations(2); and

(b) in consequence of such participation that person or that person’s partner was engaged in remunerative work or had an income in excess of the claimant’s applicable amount as prescribed in Part 9.

(6) A person treated by virtue of paragraph 15 as being in receipt of an income-related allowance for the purposes of this Schedule is not to be treated as entitled to an income-related allowance for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4).

(7) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (4)—

(a) any week in the period of 26 weeks ending on 1st October 1995 in which there arose an entitlement to income support such as is mentioned in that sub-paragraph must be taken into account in determining when the relevant period commences; and

(b) two or more periods of entitlement and any intervening linked periods must together form a single relevant period.

(8) Where the loan to which sub-paragraph (2) refers has been applied—

(a) for paying off an earlier loan, and that earlier loan qualified under paragraph 16 during the relevant period; or

(b) to finance the purchase of a property where an earlier loan, which qualified under paragraph 16 or 17 during the relevant period in respect of another property, is paid off (in whole or in part) with monies received from the sale of that property,

then the amount of the loan to which sub-paragraph (2) applies is the amount (if any) by which the new loan exceeds the earlier loan.

(9) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this paragraph, housing costs must be met in any case where a claimant satisfies any of the conditions specified in sub-paragraphs (10) to (13), but—

(a) those costs must be subject to any additional limitations imposed by the sub-paragraph; and

(b) where the claimant satisfies the conditions in more than one of these sub-paragraphs, only one of them shall apply in that claimant’s case and the one that applies shall be the one most favourable to the claimant.

(10) The conditions specified in this sub-paragraph are that—

(a) during the relevant period the claimant or a member of the claimant’s family acquires an interest (“the relevant interest”) in a dwelling which that claimant then occupies or continues to occupy, as the home; and

(b) in the week preceding the week in which the relevant interest was acquired, housing benefit was payable to the claimant or a member of the claimant’s family,

so however that the amount to be met by way of housing costs shall initially not exceed the aggregate of—

(i) the housing benefit payable in the first week mentioned at head (b), and

(ii) any amount included in the applicable amount of the claimant or a member of the claimant’s family in accordance with regulation 67(1)(c) or 68(1)(d) in that week,

and is to be increased subsequently only to the extent that it is necessary to take account of any increase, arising after the date of the acquisition, in the standard rate or in any housing costs which qualify under paragraph 18 (other housing costs).

(11) The condition specified in this sub-paragraph is that the loan was taken out, or an existing loan increased, to acquire alternative accommodation more suited to the special needs of a disabled person than the accommodation which was occupied before the acquisition by the claimant.

(12) The conditions specified in this sub-paragraph are that—

(a) the loan commitment increased in consequence of the disposal of the dwelling occupied as the home and the acquisition of an alternative such dwelling; and

(b) the change of dwelling was made solely by reason of the need to provide separate sleeping accommodation for persons of different sexes aged 10 or over but under the age of 20 who belong to the same family as the claimant.

(13) The conditions specified in this sub-paragraph are that—

(a) during the relevant period the claimant or a member of the claimant’s family acquires an interest (“the relevant interest”) in a dwelling which that claimant then occupies as the home; and

(b) in the week preceding the week in which the relevant interest was acquired, the applicable amount of the claimant or a member of the claimant’s family included an amount determined by reference to paragraph 18 and did not include any amount specified in paragraph 16 or 17,

so however that the amount to be met by way of housing costs shall initially not exceed the amount so determined, and shall be increased subsequently only to the extent that it is necessary to take account of any increase, arising after the date of acquisition, in the standard rate or in any housing costs which qualify under paragraph 18.

(14) The following provisions of this Schedule shall have effect subject to the provisions of this paragraph.

(1)

Paragraph 5A was inserted by regulation 2 of S.R. 1994 No. 138

(2)

Regulation 75(1) was substituted by regulation 8 of S.R. 1997 No. 541 and amended by paragraph 32(a) and (b) of Schedule 2 to S.R. 2000 No. 350 and sub-paragraph (a) was amended by regulation 2(4) of S.R. 2000 No. 197, regulation 5(a) of S.R. 2001 No. 151 and regulation 2(4) of S.R. 2002 No. 275