# The Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 1997, Paragraph 7: Ineligible charges and support charges

Extent: E+W+S

(1) For the purposes of this paragraph–
(a) “ineligible charges” means service charges which are ineligible to be met by housing benefit by virtue of regulation 12(3) (rent) of and Schedule 1 (ineligible service charges) to the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations except in the case of a tenancy where the rent includes payments for board and attendance, and the rent officer considers that a substantial part of the rent under the tenancy is fairly attributable to board and attendance, charges specified in paragraph 1(a)(i) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, in paragraph 1(a)(i) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations (charges for meals).
(b) “support charges” means any charges specified under paragraph (1ZA) of regulation 12A of the 1987 Regulations (requirement to refer to rent officers).
“ineligible charges” means service charges which are ineligible to be met by housing benefit by virtue of regulation 12B(2) (rent) of and Schedule 1 (ineligible service charges) to the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, regulation 12B(2) of and Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations except in the case of a tenancy where the rent includes payments for board and attendance, and the rent officer considers that a substantial part of the rent under the tenancy is fairly attributable to board and attendance, charges specified in paragraph 1(a)(i) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, in paragraph 1(a)(i) of Schedule 1 to the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations (charges for meals).
(2) When making a determination under paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of this Schedule, the rent officer shall assume that–
(a) the items to which the ineligible charges relate; ...
(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
were not to be provided or made available.
(3) For the purposes of paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 6 of this Schedule, the rent officer shall assume that the rent payable under the tenancy at the relevant time is–
(a) where an amount is notified to the rent officer under regulation 14(9)(b) of the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, regulation 14(8)(b) of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations in respect of that tenancy, that notified amount less the total of any ineligible charges included in that amount; or
(b) in any other case, the total amount stated under 14(2) of the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, regulation 14(2) of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations less the total of any ineligible charges included in that stated amount.
For the purposes of paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 6 of Part 1 of this Schedule, the rent officer shall assume that the rent payable under the tenancy at the relevant time is—
(a) where an amount is notified to the rent officer under regulation 114A(4)(b) of the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be, regulations 95A(4)(b) of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations in respect of that tenancy, that notified amount less the total of any ineligible charges included in that amount; or
(b) in any other case, the total amount stated under regulation 114A(3)(d) of the Housing Benefit Regulations or, as the case may be regulation 95A(3)(d) of the Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations less the total of any ineligible charges included in that stated amount.
(4) The total of any ineligible charges, referred to in sub-paragraph (3), shall be the total of the amounts (excluding any amount which he considers is negligible) of any charges included in the notified amount or the stated amount, as the case may be, which, in the rent officer’s opinion, are at the relevant time fairly attributable to any items to which ineligible charges relate.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/1984/schedule/1/paragraph/7 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/rent-officers-housing-benefit-functions-order-1997/schedule-1/paragraph-7
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.