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Before 1 July, registered social landlords who sent flowers to a hospitalised employee, bought leaving presents for long-serving members of staff when they retired or hosted social events for staff or board members were likely to be in breach of schedule 1 of the 1996 Housing Act.

In theory, unless a determination was obtained from the Housing Corporation, it could exercise statutory power to direct the RSL to recover the value of the benefit from the employee or board member.

In practice, though, this rarely happened: RSLs have not applied for determinations and the corporation has not directed recovery.

After all, the last thing the Housing Corporation would want is thousands of applications each year for determinations to grant de minimus payments.

This issue has now finally been addressed. On 1 July, the corporation published the 2004 Payments and Benefit Determination.

It says RSLs can give token gifts or payments to staff or board members of up to £300 per person a year. They can also host corporate events with hospitality or entertainment specifically for employees or board members of up to £50 per employee or board member at each event, with an overall limit of £250 a year per person.

Only the amount spent on the staff members is relevant. If tenants and other stakeholders are invited to the event the cost of entertaining them should be excluded.

The limits do not provide a norm and, in practice, it’s unlikely that all employees and board members will receive payments and benefits up to the limit.

Unlike the General Determination passed in 2000, the governing body does not have to approve every decision an RSL makes in reliance upon this determination, nor does every decision need to be recorded in a board minute or schedule 1 register.

There are certain steps that must be taken, however. An annual report does need to be prepared and presented to the board detailing both the awards and events paid for under this new determination and the total cost to the RSL.

Employees and officers can now accept gifts from their employer and attend staff functions organised by their employer, safe in the knowledge that they will not have to pay back the cost of the benefit they receive.