[F1(a)they are necessarily incurred for the purpose of purchasing, renting or otherwise securing possession of the home for the parent and his family, or for the purpose of carrying out repairs and improvements to that home;]

(b)the parent or, if he is one of a family, he or a member of his family, is responsible for those costs; and

(c)the liability to meet those costs is to a person other than a member of the same household.

[F2(1A) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(a) “repairs and improvements" shall have the meaning given in paragraph 2 of this Schedule.]

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) a parent shall be treated as responsible for housing costs where—

(a)because the person liable to meet those costs is not doing so, he has to meet those costs in order to continue to live in the home and either he was formerly the partner of the person liable, or he is some other person whom it is reasonable to treat as liable to meet those costs; or

(b)he pays a share of those costs in a case where—

(i)he is living in a household with other persons;

(ii)those other persons include persons who are not close relatives of his or his partner;

(iii)a person who is not such a close relative is responsible for those costs under the preceding provisions of this paragraph or has an equivalent responsibility for housing expenditure; and

(iv)it is reasonable in the circumstances to treat him as sharing that responsibility.

[F3(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), payments on a loan shall constitute an eligible housing cost only if that loan has been obtained for the purposes specified in sub-paragraph (1)(a).

(4) Where a loan has been obtained only partly for the purposes specified in sub-paragraph (1)(a), the eligible housing cost shall be limited to that part of the payment attributable to those purposes.]