2002 No. 2322
SOCIAL SECURITY

The Housing Benefit (General) Amendment Regulations 2002

Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in exercise of powers conferred by sections 123(1)(d), 130(4), 137(1) and 175(1) and (3) to (5) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 19921 and section 122(3) and (5) of the Housing Act 19962 and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, after consultation with organisations appearing to him to be representative of the authorities concerned3, and after agreement by the Social Security Advisory Committee that proposals to make these Regulations should not be referred to it4, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement1.

These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Benefit (General) Amendment Regulations 2002, and shall come into force on 7th October 2002.

Amendment of Regulations2.

In paragraph 11A of Schedule 1A to the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 (excluded tenancies—property acquired by social landlords)5—

(a)

in sub-paragraph (1) for “sub-paragraph (2)” there shall be substituted “sub-paragraphs (2) and (3)”; and

(b)

after sub-paragraph (2) there shall be added—

“(3)

Where the disposal or acquisition, as the case may be, took place on or after 7th October 2002, sub-paragraph (2)(b) shall apply to a tenancy to which sub-paragraph (1) refers as if head (i) were omitted.”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Malcolm Wicks
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department for Work and Pensions
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations further amend the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 which provide for a scheme whereby housing benefit is payable to persons who are liable to make certain payments in respect of a dwelling occupied as their home.

Paragraph 11A of Schedule 1A to those Regulations is amended so that a tenancy in respect of a dwelling whose ownership has been transferred on or after 7th October 2002, with the consent of the Secretary of State, Scottish Ministers or the National Assembly for Wales, or to a person approved by the Housing Corporation, must be referred to a rent officer only where the rent payable under the tenancy has been increased since the transfer and the local authority considers the rent to be unreasonably high. Such a tenancy need no longer be referred to the rent officer on the ground that the local authority considers the dwelling to be larger than the claimant reasonably requires.

These Regulations impose no additional costs on business.