Notional capital
"A relevant person shall be treated as possessing capital of
which he has deprived himself for the purpose of increasing the amount
of grant."
Housing Renewal Grant Regs 96 Reg 38(1)
A person deprives himself of capital if he ceases to possess it, even
if he receives some other resource in return.
The crucial question is the intention of the applicant. Obtaining of
an increase of grant entitlement must be a reasonably foreseeable
purpose of the transaction. If it can be shown that the money has been
spent on something which a prudent person would have spent it on if they
had no intention of claiming any grant then this rule should not be
applied. One question may well be whether the person would have
undertaken the transaction anyway. It may also be important to determine
if the person knew of the existence of the capital rules.
R(SB)40/85
Notional capital
Capital which is available on application should be treated as the
applicant's from the date on which it could have been expected to be
acquired had an application been made, unless it is:
- a discretionary trust, or
- a trust derived from a personal injury, or
- a loan which could be obtained only if secured on disregarded
capital.
Housing Renewal Grant Regs 96 Reg 38(2)
Capital paid to a third party on behalf of any member of the relevant
person's family is treated as that person's if the money is used for
food, ordinary clothing or footwear (not school uniform or sports kit),
household fuel, rent which qualifies for Housing Benefit, or for council
tax or water rates bills for which that person is liable.
Capital paid to a relevant person or a member of their family in
respect of a third party will be treated as possessed by that person to
the extent that it is kept by him for his or their use.
Housing Renewal Grant Regs 96 Reg 38(3)(a)&(b)