Hearing and determination by rental waiver assessor
24.—(1)  A rental waiver assessor must, when carrying out his or her duties or exercising his or her powers under these Regulations, act independently, impartially and in a timely manner.
(2)  A hearing is generally to be held in an asynchronous manner by exchange of email.
(3)  However, a rental waiver assessor may direct —
(a)the hearing be held via video conferencing, teleconferencing or other electronic means; or
(b)the parties to attend before the rental waiver assessor for a hearing,
if the rental waiver assessor is of the opinion that the interest of justice would be better served if the hearing is held in the manner mentioned in sub‑paragraph (a) or if the parties attend before him or her for the hearing.
(4)  A rental waiver assessor may —
(a)issue such directions as are necessary or expedient for the conduct of the hearing, including a direction to any party to a specified determination to provide further documents or information that the rental waiver assessor requires to make a determination; and
(b)allow a party to amend that party’s application for a specified determination or response, as the case may be.
(5)  A rental waiver assessor may permit a party to be accompanied by an interpreter at the hearing.
(6)  A rental waiver assessor may at any time adjourn a hearing or fix a date for a further hearing.
(7)  A rental waiver assessor may dispense with a hearing and make a specified determination solely by reference to the forms and documents submitted by the applicant to the determination, if the rental waiver assessor is of the opinion that those forms and documents are sufficient for the rental waiver assessor to make his or her determination.
(8)  The applicant must serve the specified determination, by the prescribed mode of service —
(a)in the case of a determination mentioned in regulation 20(1) — on every other person mentioned in section 95(7) of the Act; or
(b)in the case of a determination mentioned in regulation 20(3) — on every other person mentioned in section 100(4) of the Act.