Amendments to the Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 20068

1

The Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 200647 are amended as follows.

2

After the definition of “local housing allowance” in regulation 2(1) (interpretation), insert—

  • “local welfare provision” means occasional financial or other assistance given by a local authority, the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers, or a person authorised to exercise any function of, or provide a service to, them, to or in respect of individuals for the purpose of—

    1. a

      meeting, or helping to meet, an immediate short term need—

      1. i

        arising out of an exceptional event, or exceptional circumstances; and

      2. ii

        that requires to be met in order to avoid a risk to the well-being of an individual; or

    2. b

      enabling individuals to establish or maintain a settled home, where those individuals have been or, without the assistance, might otherwise be—

      1. i

        in prison, hospital, a residential care establishment or other institution; or

      2. ii

        homeless or otherwise living an unsettled way of life;

3

In regulation 7 (circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home)—

a

in paragraph (8)(c)(ii)48, after “pending”, insert “local welfare provision or”;

b

for paragraph (16)(c)(i)49, substitute—

i

a person to whom paragraph (16A) applies;

c

after paragraph (16), insert—

16A

This paragraph applies to a person (“P”) who is—

a

detained in custody on remand pending trial;

b

detained pending sentence upon conviction; or

c

as a condition of bail required to reside—

i

in a dwelling, other than a dwelling P occupies as P’s home; or

ii

in premises approved under section 13 of the Offender Management Act 2007,

and who is not also detained in custody following sentence upon conviction.

4

In Schedule 6 (capital to be disregarded)—

a

in paragraph 21—

i

after sub-paragraph (1)(e), insert—

f

by way of local welfare provision including arrears and payments in lieu of local welfare provision.

ii

omit “or” at the end of sub-paragraph (2)(l)50; and

iii

after sub-paragraph (2)(m)51 add—

n

social fund payments

b

after paragraph 26D52, insert—

26E

Any payment in consequence of a reduction of council tax under section 13, 13A or 80 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (reduction of liability for council tax), but only for a period of 52 weeks from the date of the receipt of the payment.