2008 No. 3156
The Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Amendment (No. 2) Order 2008
Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 122(1) and (6) of the Housing Act 19961.
Citation and commencement1
This Order may be cited as the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Amendment (No. 2) Order 2008 and shall come into force on 5th January 2009.
Amendment of the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 19972
1
The Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 19972 shall be amended as follows.
2
In article 4B(3A)3 (broad rental market area determinations and local housing allowance determinations) omit “working”.
3
In Schedule 1—
a
in paragraph 44 (local reference rents)—
i
in sub-paragraph (2) for “locality” substitute “broad rental market area (local reference rent)”; and
ii
for sub-paragraph (6) substitute—
6
For the purposes of this paragraph and paragraph 5 “broad rental market area (local reference rent)” means the area within which a tenant of the dwelling could reasonably be expected to live having regard to facilities and services for the purposes of health, education, recreation, personal banking and shopping, taking account of the distance of travel, by public and private transport, to and from those facilities and services.
7
A broad rental market area (local reference rent) must contain—
a
residential premises of a variety of types, including such premises held on a variety of tenures; and
b
sufficient privately rented residential premises, to ensure that, in the rent officer’s opinion, the local reference rents for tenancies in the area are representative of the rents that a landlord might reasonably be expected to obtain in that area.
b
in paragraph 5 (single room rents) in sub-paragraph (2), for “locality” substitute “broad rental market area (local reference rent)”.
4
In Schedule 3B5 (broad rental market area determinations and local housing allowance determinations)—
a
in paragraph 2, omit sub-paragraph (8); and
b
for paragraph 4 substitute—
4
In this Schedule “broad rental market area” means an area within which a person could reasonably be expected to live having regard to facilities and services for the purposes of health, education, recreation, personal banking and shopping, taking account of the distance of travel, by public and private transport, to and from those facilities and services.
5
A broad rental market area must contain—
a
residential premises of a variety of types, including such premises held on a variety of tenures; and
b
sufficient privately rented residential premises to ensure that, in the rent officer’s opinion, the local housing allowance for the categories of dwelling in the area for which the rent officer is required to determine a local housing allowance is representative of the rents that a landlord might reasonably be expected to obtain in that area.
Amendment of the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) (Scotland) Order 19973
1
The Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) (Scotland) Order 19976 shall be amended as follows.
2
In article 4B(3A)7 (broad rental market area determinations and local housing allowance determinations) omit “working”.
3
In Schedule 1—
a
in paragraph 48 (local reference rents)—
i
in sub-paragraph (2) for “locality” substitute “broad rental market area (local reference rent)”; and
ii
for sub-paragraph (6) substitute—
6
For the purposes of this paragraph and paragraph 5 “broad rental market area (local reference rent)” means the area within which a tenant of the dwelling could reasonably be expected to live having regard to facilities and services for the purposes of health, education, recreation, personal banking and shopping, taking account of the distance of travel, by public and private transport, to and from those facilities and services.
7
A broad rental market area (local reference rent) must contain—
a
residential premises of a variety of types, including such premises held on a variety of tenures; and
b
sufficient privately rented residential premises, to ensure that, in the rent officer’s opinion, the local reference rents for tenancies in the area are representative of the rents that a landlord might reasonably be expected to obtain in that area.
b
in paragraph 5 (single room rents) in sub-paragraph (2), for “locality” substitute “broad rental market area (local reference rent)”.
4
In Schedule 3B9 (broad rental market area determinations and local housing allowance determinations)—
a
in paragraph 2, omit sub-paragraph (8); and
b
for paragraph 4, substitute—
4
In this Schedule “broad rental market area” means an area within which a person could reasonably be expected to live having regard to facilities and services for the purposes of health, education, recreation, personal banking and shopping, taking account of the distance of travel, by public and private transport, to and from those facilities and services.
5
A broad rental market area must contain—
a
residential premises of a variety of types, including such premises held on a variety of tenures; and
b
sufficient privately rented residential premises to ensure that, in the rent officer’s opinion, the local housing allowance for the categories of dwelling in the area for which the rent officer is required to determine a local housing allowance is representative of the rents that a landlord might reasonably be expected to obtain in that area.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
(This note is not part of the Order)