HB for a property not lived in

Clutching at straws a bit, and looking for the usual get out of jail free card.

I have a client who was sectioned last xmas and lost her home.

Her relatives secured a new rented property for her in Feb 2017, and the tenancy is in the sectioned persons name

A claim for HB has been rejected, Tribunal allowed appeal, LA then challenged the appeal, and its being re-heard.

Reading the regs it appears that HB is only applicable in the property you live in, or up to 4 weeks for a property you are about to move into.

This client is still in hospital, and never moved into aforementioned property, but still wants housing benefit for the property.

52 week absence rule wont fly, as she never lived there in the first place

Im on the verge of saying her appeal has no merit.

Any thoughts would be helpful

If she and her family had moved some of her stuff in you could try having a look at R(H)9/05 - similarish kind of circumstances where property was held to be claimants normal home even though she did not move in there herself for a while due to hospital admission.