STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 315 of 2000.

SOCIAL WELFARE (RENT ALLOWANCE) (AMENDMENT) (NO.1) REGULATIONS, 2000.

S.I. No. 315 of 2000.

SOCIAL WELFARE (RENT ALLOWANCE) (AMENDMENT) (NO.1) REGULATIONS, 2000.

The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 23 (as amended by section 26 of the Social Welfare Act, 1989 ( No. 4 of 1989 )) of the Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Act, 1982 (No. 6 of 1982) and sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 4 (as amended by section 11 of the Social Welfare Act, 2000 ( the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 (No. 27 of 1993) , hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and construction.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) (Amendment) (No. 1) Regulations, 2000.

(2) These Regulations and the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) Regulations, 1998 to 2000 shall be construed together as one and may be cited as the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) Regulations, 1998 to 2000.

Commencement.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on 12 October, 2000.

Calculation of means.

3. Article 8 of the Social Welfare (Rent Allowance) Regulations, 1998 ( S.I. No. 188 of 1998 ) is amended by--

(a) the substitution in sub-article (1) for paragraph (b) of the following paragraph:

“(b) the weekly value of any property belonging to such person (not being property personally used or enjoyed by him or her or a farm of land leased by him or her under a lease in accordance with sound land use practice) which is invested or is otherwise put to profitable use or which, though capable of investment or profitable use, is not invested or put to profitable use, the weekly value being calculated as follows:

(i) the first £10,000 of the capital value of the property shall be excluded,

(ii) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds £10,000 but does not exceed £20,000 shall be assessed at £1 per each £1,000,

(iii) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds £20,000 but does not exceed £30,000 shall be assessed at £2 per each £1,000, and

(iv) the weekly value of so much of the capital value of the property as exceeds £30,000 shall be assessed at £4 per each £1,000,”, and

(b) the substitution in paragraph (e) of sub-article (1) for “yearly value of all property” of “value of all property, calculated in accordance with paragraph (b),”.

4. (1) Subject to sub-article (2), these Regulations shall Saver not have the effect of reducing the rate of allowance, payable in accordance with these Regulations, below the rate payable imediately before the commencement of these Regulations.

(2) Sub-article (1) shall cease to apply to any person where the amount of capital on which the assessment of his or her means was based on the commencement of these Regulations is found to have increased.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the making of the foregoing Regulations.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations provide for an improvement in the method of assessing the capital value of property for the purposes of the Rent Allowance scheme.

The new method of assessment provides for the calculation of the capital value of property on a weekly basis as follows:

--  the first £10,000 will be disregarded;

--  capital between £10,000 and £20,000 will be assessed at £1 weekly means for each £1,000;

--  capital between £20,000 and £30,000 will be assessed at £2 weekly means per each £1,000;

--  capital above £30,000 will be assessed at £4 weekly means per each £1,000.

The Regulations also provide that the introduction of the new assessment method will not adversely affect any amount payable immediately before the commencement of these Regulations unless the amount of capital on which the assessment was based is found to have increased.

These Regulations will take effect from the 12th October, 2000.