Customer's principal residence owned by a private trust or private company - determining home ownership 043-04060030

Where a customer occupies a house owned by a private trust or private company, the decision on whether that customer is a homeowner or not depends on whether it can be concluded that the person has a right or interest in their accommodation which provides them with reasonable security of tenure.

A Special Disability Trust (SDT) may own real estate that is the principal beneficiary's home. The principal beneficiary is considered a homeowner. The assessing home and curtilage is an exempt asset.

A customer may be considered a homeowner even if they are not an attributable stakeholder of the trust.

Factors that are relevant to the determination of the home ownership status of the customer include:

• the involvement of the customer in the company, for example, director, shareholder, contributor
• the involvement of the customer in the trust, for example, appointor, trustee, beneficiary, contributor
• the terms of the Constitution (or Memorandum and Articles of Association) or Trust deed in relation to the property, for example, are there any restrictions on the use or disposal of the property
• the relationship of the customer to the company director(s), for example, the extent the customer can influence the director(s) to allow uninterrupted occupancy of the company property
• the relationship of the customer to the trust appointors and trustees, for example, the extent the customer can influence that trust appointor to allow uninterrupted occupancy of the trust property
• the period the house has been occupied by the customer as their home
• whether the house was transferred to the trust or company by the customer or the customer provided the funds to the trust or company for the purchase of the home
• the period of time the house was the customer's home before ownership was transferred to the trust or company
• whether there is a written agreement setting out the basis on which the customer occupies the house as his/her home
• the customer's intentions as to the period he/she intends to remain in the house

Company title is where a company owns a building or unit complex, and shareholders in the company are entitled to occupy a unit in the building or unit complex owned by the company. A customer who owns these shares is a homeowner. If the right to occupy the unit is the only entitlement the shares hold, and the unit is the customer's principal home, then the shares are an exempt asset under section 1118(1) of the Social Security Act 1991.

A company record should not be created for these cases. Document the situation on the customer’s record and ensure the person is being assessed as a homeowner.