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Incapacity Benefit is to be replaced by Employment and Support Allowance:
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Housing BenefitLEGISLATION Regulations are contained in the Housing Benefit Regulations (NI) 2006, SR No. 2006, No. 405 as amended. Decision Making and Appeals is governed by the Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (NI) 2001. Rates are covered by the Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 SI No. 2954 (NI 18), as amended, the Rate Relief (Education, Training and Leaving Care) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 SR No. 148, the Rate Relief (General) Regulations (NI) 2007 SR No. 204 and the Rate Relief (Qualifying Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 SR No. 203 as amended. Housing Benefit is a means tested benefit. It can be claimed by people who have a low income and either rent their homes or pay rates as owner occupiers. It is paid whether or not a person is in full-time work. Housing Benefit for tenants is paid by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE). Owner occupiers receiving rate rebates by way of Housing Benefit are paid by the Land and Property Services (Rating Services) which is referred to in the notes as the LPS. Different rules apply to people claiming Housing Benefit who are aged 60 or over, are not claiming Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA(IB)) and do not have a partner claiming Income Support or JSA(IB). Section 6 deals with the new rules for this group and refers to them as people aged 60 and over. The Civil Partnership Act came into force on 5 December 2005. From this date, same sex couples are subject to the same rules as heterosexual couples. On 1 April 2007, the rating system for domestic properties was reformed. A new scheme providing additional help with rates, the Rate Relief Scheme, was also introduced (see section 14 for further details). This scheme operates alongside and is additional to the Housing Benefit Scheme. 1. WHO CAN CLAIM?To qualify for Housing Benefit, a person must satisfy all of the conditions set out below. 1.1 Must satisfy capital rulesHousing Benefit will not be paid where a person and/or partner have over £16,000 in savings and/or capital. Some capital and savings may be ignored in certain circumstances, but a person may also be treated as having capital which s/he does not actually possess in other circumstances. The first £6,000 in savings is ignored altogether. Tariff income is applied to savings between £6,000 (£10,000 if living permanently in a care home) and £16,000. A person is assumed to have an income of £1 for every £250 or part of £250 above £6,000. The capital of a child/qualifying young person is ignored. Different capital rules apply to a person aged 60 or over (see sections 6.1.1 and 6.5.3.3). 1.2 Must be liable for rentA person or partner must be liable to pay rent on the home. Where the person claiming is not liable but in practice is paying the rent (eg the person claiming is a former partner of the person who is liable) and has to continue to pay the rent to stay in the home or the person claiming is not the former partner and is paying the rent to stay in the home and it is reasonable in the circumstances to pay someone not legally liable, then s/he will be treated as liable for rent for Housing Benefit purposes. A
person liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling will be treated as if
s/he was not liable where:
is a director or employee of the company or beneficiary or trustee of the trust. This does not apply where the liability was not created to take advantage of the Housing Benefit scheme. The onus rests with the person claiming to prove this;
1.3 Accommodation as the person's homeHousing Benefit will only be paid for accommodation which is normally occupied as the home. In most cases, benefit will only be paid on one home and not be paid until the person has actually moved into the accommodation. In specific circumstances, however, it is possible to get Housing Benefit for a new home up to four weeks before moving in. These are where the delay in moving in is reasonable and:
To qualify, a person must have moved in, been liable to make payments and claimed benefit before moving in, and either the claim has not been decided or it was refused and a second claim is made within four weeks of moving into the new accommodation. Housing Benefit can also be paid on two homes, but only in particular circumstances. These include:
Where a person has moved into a new home and could not reasonably avoid liability to make payments in respect of two homes or has a liability for two rents because special adaptations for a person with a disability are being made in one of the homes, payment can be made for up to four weeks from the day of the move. In addition, rent can be paid for up to four weeks on a former home where there is unavoidable liability for rent and the person:
Special rules apply where a person is temporarily absent from home (see section 10). 1.4 Must satisfy the habitual residence testA person must be habitually resident and have right to reside in the United Kingdom (UK), Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man to be entitled to Housing Benefit. The habitual residence test applies to all people claiming (but not partners or dependants) including British/Irish citizens returning to Northern Ireland. Some groups are automatically treated as habitually resident including citizens of the European Economic Area (ie Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UK) who are workers for the purposes of specific pieces of European legislation and their dependants, refugees and people who have been granted new forms of leave outside of the immigration rules such as humanitarian protection and discretionary leave with exceptional leave to remain in the UK within immigration law. On 1 May 2004, the
European Union expanded to include If a person is turned down for Housing Benefit because of the habitual residence test, her/his adviser should contact Law Centre (NI). From 30 April 2006,
legislation provides for a new right to reside for all EC nationals and family
members for the first three months of their stay in the On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU and new rules provide that no national of these countries will be treated as habitually resident unless s/he is subject to the Worker Authorisation Scheme and is treated as a worker under the legislation which governs this scheme. 1.5 Must not be a person subject to immigration controlA person will be subject to immigration control if s/he is not an EEA national and:
If a person is defined as a person subject to immigration control, s/he will be excluded from entitlement to many benefits including Housing Benefit unless s/he falls with certain exemptions. 2. CLAIMING HOUSING BENEFITA person claiming Income Support or JSA(IB) will be issued with a separate form for claiming Housing Benefit. This must be returned to the local social security office within one month of the date when the claim for Income Support or JSA(IB) was made. Housing Benefit will start from the first day of entitlement to Income Support or JSA(IB). The process for claiming Housing Benefit is different for a person who is 60 or over and in receipt of Pension Credit (PC) (see section 6). A person not on Income Support or JSA(IB) must apply directly to the local NIHE district office or the local Land and Property Services (LPS) office (if owner occupier). The date of claim will be treated as the date of first contact, providing a written claim is received within one month, and payment will usually begin on the Monday following the date of claim. Where a person starts a tenancy (or becomes liable for the first time to make payments for accommodation being occupied as the home) entitlement starts in the benefit week in which the claim is made. Where a person lives in a hostel or certain board and lodging accommodation with a daily rent liability s/he will be entitled to Housing Benefit from the first day of occupation. A person can make a claim for backdating of Housing Benefit. This claim can be backdated for up to 52 weeks where a person can show that s/he meets all the qualifying conditions and that there has been continuous good cause for not making a claim earlier (but see section 6.2 if a person is 60 or over). From 20 December 2006, new rules allow claims for Housing Benefit by email where this has been authorised by a direction of the relevant authority and by telephone where the relevant authority has published a telephone number for the purpose of receiving such claims. 3. EXTENDED PAYMENTSA person whose entitlement to Income Support, JSA(IB), Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disability Allowance (SDA) has ended as a result of her/him or partner starting work or increasing hours of work or increasing earnings will be entitled to an extended payment of Housing Benefit. This means that for the four weeks following entitlement to Income Support, JSA(IB), Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) finishing, Housing Benefit will be paid at the same rate as that being paid when entitlement to Income Support or JSA(IB) ended. To qualify for an extended payment, a person must satisfy all of the following conditions:
There is no requirement to make a claim but a person must notify the Social Security Agency or NIHE of the change of circumstances within four weeks. This is a very strict time limit, with no good cause for late notification. Payment should then be made automatically. A person should also make a claim for standard Housing Benefit as soon as possible as entitlement to extended payments ends after four weeks. 4. PAYMENT OF HOUSING BENEFITHousing Benefit for NIHE tenants is paid in the form of a reduction in rent. Housing associations and private tenants are usually paid by way of cheque although in certain circumstances Housing Benefit may be paid directly to the landlord. Housing Benefit must be paid directly to the landlord where a person is on Income Support, JSA(IB) or PC and the Social Security Agency is paying part of that to cover rent arrears. Direct payments will also be made where at least eight weeks rent arrears are owed unless NIHE considers it not to be in the person’s overriding interests to pay the money directly to the landlord. NIHE also has discretion to make direct payments where the person requests this or it is decided that it is in her/his best interests or s/he has left accommodation and there are rent arrears. The LPS has similar powers to make direct payments. Housing Benefit is paid in arrears. Where Housing Benefit is paid directly to a landlord, the payment is made four weeks in arrears. A person who began to receive Housing Benefit before 7 October 1996 continues to get payment in advance unless s/he moves accommodation or has a break in her/his claim. Providing a person claims on an official application form and gives all the information needed to deal with the claim, NIHE is under a duty to give a decision within fourteen days of the application or as soon as is reasonably practicable thereafter. Private tenants whose claims are not decided within fourteen days are entitled to an interim payment until the claim is finally sorted out. Whilst claiming Housing Benefit, a person has an ongoing duty to report any changes in circumstances (see section 7) which might affect entitlement. 5. CALCULATING HOUSING BENEFITHow Housing Benefit for people under 60 is worked out depends on whether a person is in receipt of Income Support or JSA(IB) or not.
Housing Benefit for a person on Income Support or JSA(IB) is worked out by calculating maximum Housing Benefit (ie 100% eligible rent and 100% eligible rates). This is the amount of assistance a person on Income Support or JSA(IB) is entitled to. To work out maximum Housing Benefit, see 5.1.
There are four steps to calculating Housing Benefit for a person not on Income Support or JSA(IB). These are: Step 1: calculate maximum Housing Benefit (ie 100% eligible rent and 100% eligible rates); Step 2: calculate the person's applicable amount for Housing Benefit; Step 3: calculate the person's income for Housing Benefit; Step 4: compare income with applicable amount. If income is less than applicable amount, maximum Housing Benefit is payable. Where income is greater than applicable amount, apply taper to the excess figure to reduce Housing Benefit entitlement. 5.1 Step 1: calculate maximum Housing BenefitMaximum Housing Benefit is 100% eligible rent and 100% eligible rates. In practice, this will mean the normal rent and rates charged minus any deductions for non-dependent adults living at home, fuel charges, meal charges and certain service charges where these are included as part of the rent. However, eligible rent can also be restricted to a level lower than the contractual rent in certain other circumstances (see section 9). 5.1.1 Deductions for non-dependantsAdults living at home are expected to contribute towards the rent and set deductions are made from eligible rent and rates. These deductions are as follows. Weekly deductions for rent
Weekly deductions for rates
These income levels only apply to non-dependants in full-time paid work but see below if the non-dependant is also on PC. Full-time paid work is paid employment of sixteen hours or more a week. Gross income is gross wages (before tax and national insurance deductions) and most other income. Income which is disregarded includes Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance and payments from the Macfarlane Trust, the Eileen Trust, the Independent Living Fund and the Fund. Where a non-dependant is not in full-time work, a weekly deduction of £7.40 will usually apply. Exceptions to this rule provide that in certain cases no deductions will be applied (see below). A weekly deduction of £7.40 will be made where a person is on Income Support or JSA(IB) and aged 25 or over. No deduction will be made for any non-dependant who is:
No non-dependant deductions whatsoever will be made if the person claiming or her/his partner is registered blind or treated as blind (ie taken off the register within the past 28 weeks), receiving Attendance Allowance or any rate of the care component of DLA. This applies regardless of the number of non-dependants at home or their circumstances. 5.1.2 Fuel chargesHousing Benefit will not usually be paid for fuel charges (for example, heating, lighting, hot water or cooking) that are included as part of rent. A service charge for the use of fuel in communal areas will, however, be met where that charge is separately identified from any other charge for fuel used within accommodation. How fuel charges are treated depends upon whether or not the charge for fuel is specified as part of the rent. The general rule is that if the fuel charge is specified, this amount is deducted from rent. Where the fuel charge is unspecified, a flat rate fuel deduction is made. The amount deducted from eligible rent is as follows.
5.1.3 Charges for mealsAny charge for meals as part of rent will not be covered by Housing Benefit. Where housing costs include an amount for meals or board, then a set deduction will be made in working out eligible rent. People in hostels or board and lodging are likely to be affected by these rules. The deductions are as follows.
A higher meals deduction in respect of a young person aged sixteen will not commence until the first Monday in September following her/his sixteenth birthday. 5.1.4 Service chargesThe general rule is that service charges are eligible for Housing Benefit if they are reasonable, paid as part of the tenancy and not specifically excluded from assistance. However, service charges in supported accommodation are treated differently (see 5.1.5). Service charges eligible for Housing Benefit include:
The following services are not eligible for Housing Benefit:
5.1.5 Service charges in supported accommodationSupported accommodation means:
For people in supported accommodation, service charges are not eligible for Housing Benefit. Instead the Housing Executive funds the landlord (eg a voluntary organisation or other social landlord) to provide the following services:
5.2 Step 2: calculate applicable amountsHousing Benefit is based on a comparison of income with a person's applicable amount (ie personal allowances plus premiums). A person's applicable amount is calculated in the same way for Housing Benefit as for Income Support except that:
Applicable amounts are fixed by the government every April. The amounts that apply depend on age, whether single, a lone parent or one of a couple and the number of any children and/or qualifying young people. 5.2.1 Personal allowances
Note: A child is anyone under sixteen. A qualifying young person is a person aged sixteen or over and under nineteen in full-time, non advanced education or approved unwaged training, or a person aged sixteen or over and under 20 in full-time, non advanced education or approved training started before turning nineteen and who reached the age of nineteen on or after 10 April 2006, or a person aged sixteen or over and under 20 who is enrolled on a further course of full-time non advanced education after having completed a similar type course (but only if the course is not provided as a result of her/his job or office held. 5.2.2 PremiumsPremiums are added to basic personal allowances and are intended to help with extra expenses caused by disability or the cost of children and qualifying young people.
A family premium is awarded in respect of a family with a child or qualifying young person. One family premium applies regardless of the number of children or qualifying young people. A higher rate is payable where the family includes a child under one year. A child will be deemed under one year until the first Monday after her/his first birthday. It can be added to any of the premiums listed below.
A person will qualify for the family premium lone parent rate if s/he was entitled or treated as entitled to Housing Benefit and the family premium lone parent rate on 5 April 1998 and has continued to be so entitled and:
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