The Housing Renewal Grants (Amendment) Regulations 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend Part II of the Housing Renewal Grants Regulations 1996 (“the principal Regulations”), which sets out a means test for determining the amount of renovation grant and disabled facilities grant which may be paid by local authorities to owner-occupier and tenant applicants under Chapter I of Part I of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.

The amendments reflect changes in housing benefit regulations, upon which the means test is based, and make minor and drafting changes.

Regulations 3 to 15 contain the amendments. In particular:

• regulation 5 uprates the multipliers in regulation 12 of the principal Regulations (reduction in amount of grant);

• regulation 6 provides for certain payments made to providers under the New Deal for unemployed persons (“New Deal”) to be excluded from a person’s notional income;

• regulations 7, 8, 9 and 15 amend provisions in Chapter IX of Part II of, and Schedule 4 to, the principal Regulations (capital): regulation 7 provides that certain receipts of any commercial activity carried on by a New Deal participant shall be treated as a person’s capital, regulation 8 provides that rehabilitation allowances and payments made to providers under the New Deal shall be excluded from a person’s notional capital, and regulation 15 provides for certain payments made to New Deal participants to be disregarded for the purposes of calculating a person’s capital;

• regulations 10, 11 and 12 amend provisions in Chapter X of Part II of the principal Regulations (students) with respect to the assessment of a student’s income;

• regulation 13 uprates the applicable amounts and premiums in Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations;

• regulation 14 provides for the following to be disregarded in the calculation of a person’s income other than earnings–

  • certain payments made pursuant to the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and the National Assistance Act 1948;

  • payments received under certain insurance policies taken out to insure against the risk of being unable to maintain repayments on certain loans or under a hire-purchase or similar agreement; and

  • certain payments made to New Deal participants.

Regulation 16 contains transitional provisions.