Social Security Act 1964

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61E Interpretation

  • (1) In this section and sections 61EA, 61EB and 61EC, of, and in Schedule 18 to, this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

    accommodation costs, in relation to any person for any given period, means,—

    • (a) in relation to premises rented by the person, the amount payable by the person for rent of the premises, excluding any service costs included in that rent and any arrears:

    • (aa) [Repealed]

    • (b) in relation to premises that are owned by the person, the total amount of all payments (including essential repairs and maintenance, local authority rates, and house insurance premiums, but excluding any service costs and any arrears) that—

      • (i) subject to section 68A, are required to be made under any mortgage security for money advanced under that security to acquire the premises, or to repay advances similarly secured; or

      • (ii) the chief executive is satisfied are reasonably required to be made:

    • (c) in relation to a person who is a boarder or lodger in any premises, 62% of the amount paid for board or lodging (excluding any arrears):

      provided that, where a person is a joint tenant or owner in common of any premises with another person or other persons living in the premises, that applicant's accommodation costs shall be the share of the total accommodation costs of the premises that the chief executive is satisfied the person is paying

    beneficiary means any person who is being paid—

    • (a) an unemployment benefit or a sickness benefit, a widow's benefit, a domestic purposes benefit, an invalid's benefit, an independent youth benefit, or an emergency benefit; or

    • (b) New Zealand superannuation or a veteran's pension

    cash assets—

    • (a) means—

      • (i) money saved with a bank or other institution, money invested with a bank or other institution, or money banked with a bank or other institution:

      • (ii) money invested in securities, bonds, or debentures, or advanced on mortgage:

      • (iii) money invested in shares in a partnership or limited liability company or other incorporated or unincorporated body; but

    • (ab) does not include any contributions to, or any member's interest in, any KiwiSaver scheme that is registered under the KiwiSaver Act 2006; and

    • (b) does not include any specified item or amount of cash assets, or cash assets of a specified kind, that is declared not to be cash assets for the purposes of this Act by regulations made under section 132

    deferred payment disposition means a contract under which a person sells or agrees to sell property or provides or agrees to provide services (whether or not possession of the property is given, or the services are provided, before all money payable under the contract has been paid) in consideration of a promise by another person to pay, or to procure the payment of, in the future and in respect of the sale or provision, a sum or sums of money exceeding in aggregate the cash price of the property or services

    mortgage security includes—

    • (a) a deferred payment disposition; and, in any such case, the balance of the purchase price required to be paid to the vendor of the premises under any such disposition shall, for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of the term accommodation costs, be treated as money advanced under a mortgage security:

    • (b) money secured over the person's share or shares in any flat owning company within the meaning of Part 7A of the Land Transfer Act 1952:

    • (c) money payable under and secured by a deferred payment licence under the Land Act 1948

    non-beneficiary means a person who is not a beneficiary

    owner includes a person legally entitled to occupy the premises under—

    • (a) a deferred payment disposition; or

    • (b) a lease, where the occupier is also the lessor as owner or one of the lessors as one of the owners; or

    • (ba) a licence to occupy, where the premises are a residential unit in a retirement village (as those terms are defined in the Retirement Villages Act 2003); or

    • (c) a licence to occupy under Part 7A of the Land Transfer Act 1952; or

    and owned has a corresponding meaning

    premises, in relation to any person, means the place that he or she occupies as a home; and includes, in relation to a person who is a boarder or lodger, any room or other accommodation occupied as a home by that person

    service costs, in relation to any premises,—

    • (a) means the cost as reasonably determined by the chief executive of any services (for example, electricity supply, gas supply, telephone network connection, or broadband Internet connection) provided to or in connection with the premises for consumption or use by the occupants of the premises; but

    • (b) does not include the cost of water supplied to the premises

    tenant, in relation to any rented premises, includes a person who pays rent, whether or not he or she is a party to the tenancy agreement or lease of the premises

    weekly accommodation costs means the greater of—

    • (a) the total amount of a person's accommodation costs for a 12-month period divided by 52; or

    • (b) the amount which, at the time of application or any subsequent review, the person is required to pay weekly for accommodation costs or may reasonably be required to set aside weekly to pay accommodation costs.

    (2) While a person is not entitled to an accommodation supplement under section 80C, the accommodation costs of that person shall be considered to be the accommodation costs of that person's spouse or partner for the purposes of—

    • (a) this section; and

    (3) Subsection (2) is subject to section 61EB (which relates to joint tenants who are married or in a civil union or in a de facto relationship) and to section 80C(1A) (which relates to continuing accommodation supplement for certain benefit applicants).

    Section 61E: substituted, on 1 July 1993, by section 10(1) of the Social Security Amendment Act (No 3) 1993 (1993 No 57).

    Section 61E(1): amended, on 17 November 2000, by section 7(1) of the Housing Restructuring (Income-Related Rents) Amendment Act 2000 (2000 No 22).

    Section 61E(1) accommodation costs paragraph (a): substituted, on 24 August 2010, by section 14(1) of the Social Security (New Work Tests, Incentives, and Obligations) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 105).

    Section 61E(1) accommodation costs paragraph (b): amended, on 24 August 2010, by section 14(2) of the Social Security (New Work Tests, Incentives, and Obligations) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 105).

    Section 61E(1) accommodation costs paragraph (c): amended, on 1 July 1997, by section 2 of the Social Security Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 21).

    Section 61E beneficiary paragraph (a): substituted, on 1 October 1998, by section 42 of the Social Security Amendment Act 1998 (1998 No 19).

    Section 61E beneficiary paragraph (a): amended, on 1 July 2001, by section 15(3)(b) of the Social Security Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 1).

    Section 61E beneficiary paragraph (b): substituted, on 1 April 1994, by section 5 of the Social Welfare (Transitional Provisions) Amendment Act (No 2) 1993 (1993 No 149).

    Section 61E beneficiary paragraph (b): amended, on 15 April 2005, by section 4(1) of the Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 30).

    Section 61E(1) cash assets: substituted, on 26 September 2002, by section 12 of the Social Security (Personal Development And Employment) Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 28).

    Section 61E(1) cash assets paragraph (a)(i): substituted, on 15 April 2005, by section 4(2) of the Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 30).

    Section 61E(1) cash assets paragraph (a)(iia): inserted, on 1 December 2006, by section 231 of the KiwiSaver Act 2006 (2006 No 40).

    Section 61E(1) cash assets paragraph (ab): inserted, on 1 December 2006, by section 231 of the KiwiSaver Act 2006 (2006 No 40).

    Section 61E(1) deferred payment disposition: substituted, on 1 April 2005, by section 139 of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (2003 No 52).

    Section 61E(1) ownerparagraph (ba): inserted, on 1 July 2005, by section 4(3) of the Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 30).

    Section 61E(1) service costs: inserted, on 24 August 2010, by section 14(3) of the Social Security (New Work Tests, Incentives, and Obligations) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 105).

    Section 61E(1) weekly accommodation costs paragraph (b): amended, on 7 July 2010, by section 6 of the Social Security Amendment Act (No 2) 2010 (2010 No 85).

    Section 61E(2): inserted, on 1 October 1995, by section 29(1) of the Social Security Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 20).

    Section 61E(2): amended, on 26 April 2005, by section 3 of the Social Security Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 21).

    Section 61E(3): inserted, on 1 October 1995, by section 29(1) of the Social Security Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 20).

    Section 61E(3): amended, on 26 April 2005, by section 3 of the Social Security Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 21).

    Section 61E(3): amended, on 1 April 2007, by section 5 of the Social Security Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 21).