HB on two home/prior to moving in & disabled adaptations

Hi,

Wonder if anyone can clarify. Has there ever been a stipulation in the case of disabled adaptations that HB may only be awarded where the customer does not have a liability anywhere else.

I know the 2006 regs allow for disabled adaptations to apply in the case of prior to moving in and two homes but wonder if the rules were different prior to this.

Thanks in advance

Yes the rules were different but only in construction rather than effect. Reg 5 (6) of the ‘97 regs looked at where someone was occupying the dwelling or could treated to be so; if they were waiting for a property to be adapted they could be treated as occupying it before they moved in.

This is interesting, as long as it survives:

http://www.osscsc.gov.uk/Aspx/view.aspx?id=4078

Brief summary:

- Reg 7(8) deems the claimant to be occupying the new home instead of the old one s/he is waiting to vacate
- This means that the HB paid for the old home during the four weeks leading up to the move is an overpayment for dwelling A
- That doesn’t stop HB being paid separately for Dwelling B if there is a diferent HB payee
- The overpayment for Dwelling A might not be recoverable
- CH/2201/2002, which was previously regarded as definitive authority on this point, considered and not followed

I can see this one getting overturned in the Court of Appeal, so enjoy it while it lasts.  It seems particularly vulnerable on the suggestion that failure to suspend HB is an official error in these circumstances.

Disability adaptations were added to the the list of two homes criteria in the 1987 Regs before the 2006 Regs came into force, cannot remember exactly when but a good few years ago