You are away from your term-time home
In the
summer vacation
, you cannot get HB for any weeks you are away from your term-time home, unless you would live there even if you were not studying. To continue to get HB for weeks of absence, you need to argue that your main purpose for living there is not simply to make it easier to attend the course – eg, you were settled there before the course or you are independent of, or estranged from, your parents.
1Reg 55 HB Regs However, if your grant or loan covers the summer vacation, your HB does not stop during any weeks of absence.
2Regs 53(1), definition of ‘period of study’, and 55 HB Regs HB does not stop if you have to go into hospital.
If you leave your home during the academic year (or at any time if you live there not just to facilitate attending your course), your HB does not stop, provided you intend to return, you do not sublet, and you are not likely to be away for more than 52 weeks.
3Reg 7(16)(c)(viii) HB Regs You cannot use this provision if you can get HB under the ‘two homes rule’ described below. The two homes rule is, however, more generous because it does not have a time limit.
Examples
Jon flatshares in Sheffield while attending university. He gets HB as a disabled student. During the summer vacation he goes home to stay with his parents in Leicester for seven weeks. His HB stops and on his return he has to claim universal credit.
Donna has always lived in Cardiff and is attending her local college. She is a lone parent and gets HB. She regularly visits her family in Aberystwyth during vacations. Her HB continues during her absence.