Bedroom tax 1986 loophole and decant for essential repairs

I have just picked up an appeal which is being heard 2pm today. The tenant who has been receiving HB prior to 86. was decanted in 1989 between December and April 90 in order for essential repairs. She was put in temporary accommodation by her the City Council. HB transferred to temp accommodation. The period exceeds 13 weeks.  Can she avail herself of the loophole? She fulfils the continuously limb of the test not but the same property nor the 13 week rule as per reg 7. Your thoughts will be much appreciated peeps.

Is the loophole not pre 96? Have I missed a new one?

If your dates are right she has nothing to worry about - as Edmund says, the Regs talk about the claimant’s circumstances between the first date and the second date, the first date being 1/1/96 and the second date being any subsequent date on which you are entitled to HB.  Being decanted is only going to be an issue if it happened between those dates.

If that is the case it raises an interesting point of construction.  Para 4(3)(b)(ii) of Schedule 3 to the Consequential Provisions Regs requires the claimant to have been in “continuous occupation”.  This would include periods of temporary absence when the claimant is treated as continuing to occupy the dwelling under HB Reg 7(12) to (17), but when you are decanted for essential repairs a different part of Reg 7 comes into play: you are treated as occupying whichever dwelling you are liable to make payments for by Reg 7(4).  If you are then temporarily absent from that dwelling for any of the normal reasons, presumably paras (12) to (17) can be overlaid onto para (4) so that you still get HB for the temporary accommodation you are temporarily absent from while on holiday or in hospital, say; but if para (4) acts to treat you as occupying the temporary address rather than the one that is under repair, does this break your “continuous occupation” for the purpose of the 1996 protection?

I think the appellant’s argument in a case like this should be that Reg 7 consists of a set of deeming fictions, each of which should only be carried far enough to achieve its limited legislative purpose.  Para (4) exists simply to ensure that you do not find yourself unable to claim HB at all while your home is repaired; for all other purposes, including Sched 4(3)(b)(ii), you should be treated as if you are occupying your underlying normal home during a decant.  No-one looking at this in real life would objectively conclude that you have moved out and that you now live normally in your temporary decant address - that is why Reg 7(4) is required.

Nice case, but all gloriously irrelevant if the time frame is pre-1996 anyway.