Explanatory note

These Regulations further amend the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987.

They amend the provisions of regulation 11 (restriction on unreasonable payments) to provide that decisions of rent assessment committees shall only apply for 12 months (regulation 4).

They prescribe the circumstances in which, and the time within which, an appropriate local authority must apply to a rent officer for determination in respect of–

The requirement to apply to a rent officer for such a determination applies to cases arising on or after 1st April 1989. The Regulations provide that in cases arising between that date and 1st April 1990 determinations by rent officers are to be made as at the date on which the claim for rent allowance or the notification relating to a rent allowance, was received by the appropriate local authority (regulations 5 and 12 and Schedule 1).

Regulation 13 of the General Regulations is amended so that young persons who are attending courses of advanced education are excluded from membership of the family for the purposes of housing benefit (regulation 6).

Regulation 34 of the General Regulations is amended so that earnings are treated as income in all cases (regulation 7).

The amendment of regulation 40 of the General Regulations provides that charitable or voluntary payments paid at irregular intervals shall be treated as capital (regulation 8). In the case of students the regulations increase the amount disregarded under regulation 56 of the General Regulations to ensure that certain students may benefit from the increased disregard provided for charitable and voluntary payments (regulation 9).

Regulation 63 of the General Regulations is amended so that non-dependant deductions are not made in the case of boarders (regulation 10), the provisions in regulation 67 of the General Regulations under which the benefit period ends are amended (regulation 11) and provision is made for the review of housing benefit and community charge benefit decisions by the same body by the amendment of regulation 81 of the General Regulations (regulation 12).

A number of minor amendments are made to provisions in Schedules 2 to 5 of the General Regulations relating to applicable amounts (regulation 14), the disregard of sums in the calculation of earnings (regulation 15), other income (regulation 16) and capital (regulation 17). These amendments are principally concerned with the introduction of community charge benefit and the amendment of the provision relating to income from boarders.

References to rates are amended by regulation 18 and Schedule 2, and transitional provision to enable claims for rate rebate after 1st April 1990 is made by regulation 19.