The appellant applied for housing benefit. He completed a form which asked if he owned other properties. He had been prosecuted for failing to disclose ownership of a property. He requested the court to consider whether he had a duty to disclose property which he held as bare trustee.
Held: The regulations defined as the owner a person who ‘is for the time being entitled to dispose of the fee simple, whether or not with the consent of other joint owners’. A conviction required the prosecution to demonstrate that he did not know of the need to declare the ownership. In this case the ownership did require declaration. Whether he knew it to be false was a question of fact and the first instance court having heard the evidence, its judgement should not be interfered with. The court was not concerned with the proceeds of sale, only with current entitlement to sell.
Judges:
Lord Justice Kennedy & Mr Justice Leveson
Citations:
[2002] EWHC 785 (Admin), [2002] EWHC 772 (QB)
Links:
Statutes:
Social Security Act 1992 112, Housing Benefits (General) Regulations 1987 2
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Sedgemoor District Council Housing Benefit Review Board ex parte Weaden 1986
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Benefits
Updated: 06 June 2022; Ref: scu.172204
