HOUSING; RATES Citation, commencement and interpretation 1 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Benefit (General) (Amendment No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 10th April 2006. 2 In these Regulations— “the Housing Benefit Regulations ” means the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 . 3 The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly. Amendment of regulation 98 of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2 In regulation 98 of the Housing Benefit Regulations (meaning of overpayment) for “as subsequently revised or further revised” there shall be substituted “or as subsequently revised or superseded or further revised or superseded”. Amendment of regulation 99 of the Housing Benefit Regulations 3 1 Regulation 99 of the Housing Benefit Regulations (recoverable overpayments) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4). 2 In paragraph (2) for “caused by” there shall be substituted “which arose in consequence of”. 3 In paragraph (3) for “caused by official error” there shall be substituted “which arose in consequence of an official error”. 4 In paragraph (4A) after “revised” there shall be inserted “or superseded” and after “revision” there shall be inserted “or supersession”. Amendment of regulation 101 of the Housing Benefit Regulations 4 1 Regulation 101 of the Housing Benefit Regulations (person from whom recovery may be sought) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (5). 2 After sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1), there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph— bb the Executive is satisfied that the overpayment did not occur as a result of any change of dwelling occupied by the claimant as his home; . 3 For paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the following paragraph— 2 For the purposes of section 73(3)(b) of the Administration Act (overpayments of housing benefit), where recovery of an overpayment is sought by the Executive— a the prescribed person from whom it is sought shall be— i in a case where an overpayment arose in consequence of a misrepresentation of or a failure to disclose a material fact (in either case, whether fraudulently or otherwise) by or on behalf of the claimant or any other person to whom housing benefit has been paid, the person who misrepresented or failed to disclose that material fact instead of, if different, the person to whom the payment was made; ii in a case where an overpayment arose in consequence of an official error where the claimant or a person acting on his behalf or any other person to whom the payment has been made could reasonably have been expected, at the time of receipt of the payment or of any notice relating to that payment, to realise that it was an overpayment, that person instead of, if different, the person to whom the payment was made, or b where sub-paragraphs (a)(i) and (ii) do not apply, the prescribed person from whom it is sought is— i the claimant.; ii in a case where a recoverable overpayment is made to a claimant who has one or more partners, the claimant’s partner or any of his partners. . 4 After paragraph (3), there shall be inserted the following paragraph— 3A For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a)(ii), “overpayment arose in consequence of an official error” shall have the same meaning as in regulation 99(3) . 5 In paragraph (4) for “paragraph (2)(b)” there shall be substituted “paragraph (2)(b)(ii)”. Amendment of regulation 102 of the Housing Benefit Regulations 5 1 Regulation 102 of the Housing Benefit Regulations (method of recovery) shall be amended in accordance with the paragraphs (2) to (4). 2 In paragraph (1) for “the appropriate authority” there shall be substituted “a relevant authority”. 3 After paragraph (1) there shall be inserted the following paragraph— 1A Where— a a claimant has moved into a dwelling which he occupies as his home; b a recoverable overpayment of housing benefit is thereafter made direct to him in connection with the dwelling he occupied as his home immediately preceding the date he moved to that dwelling, and c the relevant authority which made the recoverable overpayment is paying housing benefit to that claimant in respect of that new dwelling, the relevant authority may at its discretion deduct from the housing benefit it is paying to the claimant in respect of a benefit week an amount equal to the claimant’s weekly entitlement to housing benefit at his new dwelling, and may do so for the number of benefit weeks equal to the number of weeks during which the claimant was over paid housing benefit. . 4 In paragraph (2) after “paragraphs” there shall be inserted “(1A),”. 5 In paragraph (5) after “regulation” there shall be inserted “, except as made under paragraph (1A),”. Amendment of regulation 104 of the Housing Benefit Regulations 6 In regulation 104(1)(c) of the Housing Benefit Regulations (sums to be deducted in calculating recoverable overpayments) after “change of circumstances” there shall be inserted “, except a change of the dwelling which the claimant occupies as his home,”. Amendment of regulation 105 of the Housing Benefit Regulations 7 In regulation 105 of the Housing Benefit Regulations (recovery of overpayments from prescribed benefits), after paragraph (1) there shall be inserted the following paragraph— 1A For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c) the term “Member State” shall be understood to include Switzerland in accordance with and subject to the provisions of Annex II of the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States and the Swiss Confederation on the free movement of persons, signed at Brussels on 21st June 1999. . Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Social Development on 20th October 2005 John O'Neill A senior officer of the Department for Social Development Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance and Personnel on 20th October 2005 Jack Layberry A senior officer of the Department of Finance and Personnel