The Housing Benefit (General) Amendment Regulations 1995

Substitution of regulation 11 of the Principal Regulations

5.  For regulation 11 of the Principal Regulations (restrictions on unreasonable payments) there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Maximum rent

11.—(1) Where an authority has applied to the rent officer for a determination in accordance with regulation 12A (requirement to refer to rent officers)(1) and a rent officer has made a determination or redetermination in exercise of the Housing Act functions, the maximum rent shall be determined in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (12).

(2) In a case where the rent officer has determined a relevant rent, but is not required to notify the authority of a local reference rent, the maximum rent shall be that relevant rent.

(3) In a case where the rent officer has determined and is required to notify the authority of a local reference rent, the maximum rent shall not exceed twice that local reference rent.

(4) Subject to the limit specified in paragraph (3), in a case where the rent officer has determined both a local reference rent of which he is required to notify the authority and a relevant rent, and—

(a)the relevant rent is higher than the local reference rent, the maximum rent shall be the local reference rent plus 50 per cent. of the amount by which the relevant rent exceeds the local reference rent;

(b)the local reference rent is higher than the relevant rent, the maximum rent shall be the relevant rent.

(5) Subject to the limit specified in paragraph (3), in a case where the rent officer has determined a local reference rent of which he is required to notify the authority, but has not determined a relevant rent and the reckonable rent is more than the local reference rent, the maximum rent shall be the local reference rent plus 50 per cent. of the amount by which that reckonable rent exceeds the local reference rent.

(6) In a case where—

(a)the authority has determined a maximum rent in respect of a dwelling; and

(b)during the benefit period the reckonable rent in respect of that dwelling is reduced to a sum which is less than the reckonable rent at the time that maximum rent was determined,

then on review—

(i)the maximum rent shall not be reduced during that benefit period where that sum is not less than the maximum rent; and

(ii)the maximum rent shall be reduced for the remainder of that benefit period to an amount equal to that sum where that sum is less than the maximum rent.

(7) In a case where the claimant occupies a dwelling which is the same as that occupied by him at the date of death of any person to whom paragraph (11)(b) to (d) applied or, had a claim been made, would have applied, the maximum rent shall be either—

(a)the maximum rent which applied before the death occurred; or

(b)in a case where there was no maximum rent, the reckonable rent due before the death occurred,

for a period of 12 months from the date of such a death.

(8) For the purposes of paragraph (7), a claimant shall be treated as occupying the dwelling if paragraph (8) of regulation 5 (circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home(2) is satisfied and for that purpose sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph of that regulation shall be treated as if it were omitted.

(9) Subject to paragraph (10), where the appropriate authority is satisfied that a person to whom paragraph (11) applies was able to meet the financial commitments for his dwelling when they were entered into, there shall be no maximum rent during the first 13 weeks of the claimant’s benefit period.

(10) Paragraph (9) shall not apply where a claimant was previously entitled to benefit in respect of a benefit period which fell wholly or partly less than 52 weeks before the commencement of his current benefit period.

(11) This paragraph applies to the following persons—

(a)the claimant;

(b)any member of his family;

(c)if the claimant is a member of a polygamous marriage, any partners of his and any child or young person for whom he or a partner is responsible and who is a member of the same household;

(d)subject to paragraph (12), any relative of the claimant or his partner who occupies the same dwelling as the claimant, whether or not they reside with him.

(12) Paragraph (11)(d) shall only apply to a relative who has no separate right of occupation of the dwelling which would enable him to continue to occupy it even if the claimant ceased his occupation of it.

(13) In this regulation—

“local reference rent” means the rent determined by a rent officer under paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Rent Officers Order;

“property-specific rent” means the rent determined by a rent officer under paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 to the Rent Officers Order, except in a case where a rent officer has made a rent determination under paragraph 3 of that Schedule, when it shall be the latter determination;

“reckonable rent” means those payments, which a person is liable to make in respect of the dwelling which he occupies as his home, and which are eligible, or would, but for this regulation, be eligible for housing benefit;

“the Rent Officers Order” means the Rent Officers (Additional Functions) Order 1995)(3) or, as the case may be, the Rent Officers (Additional Functions) (Scotland) Order 1995(4);

“relevant rent” means

less any amount of such a rent which the rent officer has determined, pursuant to paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to the Rent Officers Order, is attributable to the provision of services which are ineligible to be met by housing benefit; and

“size-related rent” means the rent determined by a rent officer under paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1 to the Rent Officers Order.”.