Housing benefit over pension age, wife NRPF

Hello, client’s wife has NRPF and they are a mixed age couple. He is over state pension age. She owns a property worth around £60k in Thailand occupied by family (trying to find out ages and circumstances). He is not entitled to GPC as he has SRP plus other pension income. For GPC, he would be treated as a single person and her income and capital would not affect entitlement. For Housing Benefit, I am aware he is treated as a single person- is her capital taken into account?

Thank you

I believe the capital of the wife should be disregarded entirely.

The provisions allowing the single person HB claim are in Article 7 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 31 and Savings and Transitional Provisions and Commencement No. 21 and 23 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2019.

Art.7(3)(b) states:

(3) Where this paragraph applies—

(b)P who is to be treated as single in accordance with paragraph (2)(a)(i) to (iii), or is single in accordance with paragraph (2)(b)(i), is to be treated as though P is not a member of the same household as any party (or parties) with whom P is not part of a couple in accordance with those provisions and may claim or remain entitled to housing benefit as a single person,

P is to be treated as both a single person and not a member of the same household with the other person concerned.

Under the interpretation regs for HB(SPC), “single claimant” means a claimant who neither has a partner nor is a lone parent, so the provisions in reg.25:

25.  The income and capital of—

(a)the claimant; and
(b)any partner of the claimant,

means only reg.25(a) applies as, by definition, the claimant cannot have a partner as they are treated as a single claimant for HB under the Commencement Order.

Thank you Paul, that’s great.