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Draft Regulations laid before the Scottish Parliament under section 191(5) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, for approval by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.
DRAFT SCOTTISH STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
2008 No. [ ]
HOUSING
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Scheme of Assistance) Regulations 2008
Laid before the Scottish Parliament in draft
Made - - - - [ ] 2008
Coming into force - [ ] 2008
The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 73(3), 77 and 79(6) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006( a) and all other powers enabling them to do so.
In accordance with section 191(5) of that Act, a draft of the Regulations has been laid before and approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament:
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Scheme of Assistance) Regulations 2008 and come into force on [ ].
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations-
"the 2006 Act" means the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006;
"applicant's contribution" means an amount assessed under section 77 of the 2006 Act;
"approved expense" has the meaning given in section 76 of the 2006 Act;
"employment and support allowance" means employment and support allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007( b);
"guarantee credit" must be construed in accordance with sections 1 and 2 of the State Pension Credit Act 2002( c);
"income-based jobseeker's allowance" means an income-based jobseeker's allowance by virtue of section 1(4) of the Jobseekers Act 1995( d);
"income support" means income support under Part 7 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992( e);
"subsidised loan" has the meaning given in section 97 of the 2006 Act.
Types of assistance which must be provided
3. - (1) Assistance provided under subsection 1(b) of section 73 of the 2006 Act in order to carry out the work described in paragraph (2) must be provided by way of a grant, if the adaptation achieved by the work is essential to the needs of the disabled person.
(2) The work is structural work and other permanent changes to the building fabric but excluding work to extend the original structure to create additional living accommodation.
(3) Except where paragraph (4) applies, assistance provided under subsection (1)(b) of section 73 of the 2006 Act in connection with work in a house for the purpose set out in paragraph (e) of section 71(2) of that Act, must include advice and information to assist the applicant to fund the work.
(4) This paragraph applies where the assistance provided is the assistance referred to in-
(a) section 73(2) of the 2006 Act; or
(b) paragraph (1).
Minimum percentage grant
4. - (1) Where paragraph (2) applies, the specified percentage of the approved expense for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) of section 79 of the 2006 Act is 100 percent in the cases mentioned in paragraph (4).
(2) This paragraph applies in cases where the applicant or any of the persons mentioned in section 77(2)(ii) - (iv) of the 2006 Act is in receipt of-
(a) income support;
(b) income based jobseeker's allowance;
(c) guarantee credit; or
(d) employment and support allowance.
(3) Where paragraph (2) does not apply, the specified percentage of the approved expense for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) of section 79 of the 2006 Act is 80 per cent in the cases mentioned in paragraph (4).
(4) The cases are where grant is for-
(a) the purpose mentioned in section 73(2)of the 2006 Act; or
(b) the purpose mentioned in regulation 3(1).
Assessment of applicant's contribution
5. The assessment, in relation to all classes of application for a grant or subsidised loan, of an amount to be treated for the purposes of Part 2 of the Act as the applicant's contribution towards the approved expense is delegated to the local authority for the area in which the land or premises, which is the subject of the application, is situated.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
Section 73(1)(b) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 1) requires that a local authority provide assistance for the purpose of adapting a house for a disabled person or reinstating such adaptations. Various types of assistance are listed in section 71(3).
Regulation 3 provides that such assistance must be by way of grant where the adaptations are structural or involve changes to the building fabric. Where the adaptations do not qualify for mandatory assistance by grant, the assistance provided must include advice and information to help the applicant to fund the work.
Regulation 4 provides that where a grant is mandatory, either because it is for the works described in regulation 3 or it is for the purpose of providing standard amenities as described in section 73 of the Act, the specified percentage of the approved expense, as defined in section 76, is eighty percent. If the applicant for the grant, or some connected person as listed in section 77(2)(ii) to (iv), is in receipt of the benefits listed in Regulation 4(2), the approved expense is 100 percent.
Applicants for any grant or subsidised loan may be required to pay a contribution towards the approved expense. In regulation 5 the Scottish Ministers delegate the assessment of the applicant's contribution to local authorities.
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