Article 8 Rent officers' determinations

(1)

Where this article applies, in respect of that part of the housing benefit qualifying expenditure which is attributable to allowances granted for the period beginning on the relevant date and ending on the termination date, the appropriate amount, for the purposes of article 4(1)(b)(ii), shall be calculated in accordance with Schedule 6.

(2)

This article applies where—

(a)

an authority applies to a rent officer for a determination to be made under the Rent Officers Order in relation to a dwelling; and

(b)

the officer makes a determination under that Order.

(3)

This article also applies in a case where—

(a)

the dwelling (A) is in a hostel; and

(b)

by virtue of regulation 12A(2) of the Housing Benefit Regulations^f1 (requirement to refer to rent officers) an application for a determination in respect of that dwelling (A) is not required because the dwelling is regarded as similar to another dwelling (B) in that hostel in respect of which a determination has been made, and in such a case the determination made in respect of dwelling (B) shall, for the purposes of this article, be treated as if it were a determination in respect of dwelling (A).

(4)

This article also applies where a rent officer has made a determination in respect of a tenancy of a dwelling and by virtue of paragraph 2 of Schedule 1A to the Housing Benefit Regulations^f2 (excluded tenancies) a new determination is not required in respect of another tenancy of the dwelling, and in such a case the determination made shall, for the purposes of this article, be treated as if it were a determination made in respect of that tenancy.

(5)

Where a determination as to the rent which a landlord might reasonably be expected to obtain in respect of a dwelling is made by a rent assessment committee following a determination made by a rent officer under paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Rent Officers Order, this article shall cease to apply in so far as it relates to a determination made by a rent officer under that paragraph from the date on which the rent assessment committee’s determination takes effect.

(6)

Where

(a)

a determination under paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Rent Officers Order has been made by the rent officer, and

(b)

an application is made to the rent assessment committee and, had that application been made before the reference to the rent officer which led to that determination, the rent officer would, in accordance with article 5(2) of the Rent Officers Order^f3, not have made such a determination, this article shall cease to apply in so far as it relates to that determination under that paragraph from the date of that application, or 1st April 1994, whichever is the later date.

(7)

Except in a case to which paragraph (3) applies, this article does not apply where an authority is required to apply for a determination in relation to a dwelling during the relevant year under regulation 12A of the Housing Benefit Regulations which a rent officer would be required to make, but the authority fails to apply for that determination and any allowance granted in such a case shall, subject to article 11(4), be deducted from housing benefit qualifying expenditure pursuant to article 2(2)(b).

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: Regulation 12A was inserted by regulation 5 of S.I. 1990/546 and amended by S.I. 1993/317.
f2: Schedule 1A was inserted by regulation 13 of S.I. 1990/546; and paragraph 2 was amended by S.I. 1991/235, 1993/317 and 1249.
f3: Article 5(2) was amended by S.I. 1991/426 in the case of England and Wales and by S.I. 1991/533 in the case of Scotland.