Moved in before tenancy started - Not liable for rent / closed period supersession?

Grateful for any thoughts on this one.

- HB claimant in temporary accommodation gets given keys for a property where a tenancy starts the following week.

- They move into the new tenancy early (as they were given permission to do) and out of temporary accommodation.

- The move out of temporary accommodation is notified immediately via accommodation provider. The new tenancy is reported by client a few days later. A HB decision is subsequently made (after both notifications) ending entitlement.

Could this have been treated as a closed period supersession? I note the HB guidance and circulars which seem to support it being processed in this way but the case law I can find (e.g. CIS/2595/2003) does seem to describe dramatically different circumstance, refers to s71 SSAA and I’m doubting whether the principles are actually relevant in the circs I am looking at (where no overpayment has actually occurred).

Alternatively (clutching at straws) is there any chance he is in fact liable for rent having been given the keys, permission to occupy and actually moving in (despite the dates on tenancy agreement and lack of charge for the period)?

My view is that HB entitlement is continuous in these cases.  I don’t think the unit of entitlement to HB can ever be less than a complete benefit week:

- s130 of the SSCBA says a person is entitled to HB if (inter alia) there is an “appropriate maximum HB”, which is to be determined in accordance with regulations
- HB Reg 70 says maximum HB is the eligible rent determined on a weekly basis in accordance with Reg 80, less non-dep deductions where appropriate.

This means the claimant always has a weekly amount of AMHB.  It is not always based on 7 days’ rent, but it is always an award for the whole Monday to Sunday benefit week.  HB would only end if there is a clear benefit week in which the claimant does not have an AMHB.

In the scenario you describe, Reg 80 provides for a hybrid week made up of O days’ rent for the old property and N days’ rent for the new, those being the numbers of days for which the claimant is liable to pay rent on each.  Typically, amount O is 5 and amount N is nil, so the hybrid eligible rent for the week of the move consists of 5/7 of a week’s rent on the old property only.

Alternatively, it is the absolute textbook closed period supersession case.

Thank you very much (as always).