§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will change the housing benefit regulations to adopt the definition of reversionary interest in use in Northern Ireland. [20346]
§ Mr. Roger EvansI have been asked to reply.
A recent Court of Appeal judgment has held that property in England or Wales which the claimant owns but which is let to tenants is a reversionary interest. This means that in all cases the value of such property has to be disregarded as a capital resource when entitlement to housing benefit is assessed. We propose to bring forward amending regulations to rectify this situation. We are currently considering the form that this amendment should take.