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16 1952

HOUSING (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1952

PART II.

Financial Provisions.

Continuance of sections 16, 19 and 20 of Act of 1948 and section 6 of Act of 1950.

6. —The reference to the 1st day of April, 1952, contained (by virtue of section 1 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1949 (No. 23 of 1949)) in subsection (1) of section 16, subsection (2) of section 19 and subsection (1) of section 20 of the Act of 1948 and the reference to the 1st day of April, 1952, in subsection (1) of section 6 of the Act of 1950 shall be construed as a reference to the 1st day of April, 1954.

Grant for provision and installation of private water supply and sewerage facilities.

7. —(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and subject to regulations made under this section, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to a person providing and installing in a dwelling-house a private water supply and sewerage facilities, a grant not exceeding £50, if—

(a) the dwelling-house is situate in an area where at the date of the application for the grant, no public piped water supply or sewerage scheme has been provided or is being provided, and

(b) the provision and installation of the water supply and sewerage facilities commence on or after the 29th day of April, 1952, and are completed on or before 1st day of April, 1954, and comply with the conditions set out in the said regulations.

(2) Where the Minister makes a grant under this section in respect of the provision and installation of a private water supply and sewerage facilities in a dwelling-house, the valuation of the tenement consisting of or including such house shall not, on any valuation or revision of the valuation thereof coming into force within seven years after the completion of such provision and installation, be increased on account of any increase in the value of such tenement arising from such provision and installation.

(3) Subsection (2) of section 6 of the Act of 1950 shall not apply in relation to a grant under this section.

(4) The Minister may make regulations for the purposes of this section.

Prohibition of grants in certain cases.

8. —A grant (other than a grant for the provision and installation in a dwelling-house of a private water supply and sewerage facilities) shall not be made under section 9 , 10 or 11 of this Act in respect of a house in respect of which a grant is or was made under section 7 of the Act of 1950.

Grants to farmers by housing authority.

9. —(1) A housing authority may make, to or in respect of a farmer in respect of a house for which a relevant grant is made, a grant of an amount equal to—

(i) if the rateable valuation does not exceed £12 10s. 0d., 100 per cent. of the relevant grant,

(ii) if the rateable valuation does not exceeds £12 10s. 0d. but does not exceed £20, 66⅔ per cent. of the relevant grant,

(iii) if the rateable valuation exceeds £20 but does not exceed £27 10s. 0d., 50 per cent. of the relevant grant, or

(iv) if the rateable valuation exceeds £27 10s. 0d. but does not exceed £35, 331/3 per cent. of the relevant grant.

(2) In this section “the rateable valuation” means the rateable valuation, or the aggregate of the rateable valuations, of any land or buildings occupied by a farmer, in force immediately before the commencement of the erection, reconstruction, purchase, improvement or extension in respect of which the relevant grant is made.

Grants to persons in lower income class by housing authority.

10. —(1) A housing authority may make, to or in respect of a person (other than a farmer) in respect of a house for which a relevant grant is made, a grant of an amount equal to—

(i) if his family income does not exceed £208, 100 per cent. of the relevant grant,

(ii) if his family income exceeds £208, but does not exceed £312, 66⅔ per cent. of the relevant grant,

(iii) if his family income exceeds £312 but does not exceed £365, 50 per cent. of the relevant grant, or

(iv) if his family income exceeds £365 but does not exceed £416, 331/3 per cent. of the relevant grant.

(2) In calculating the family income of a person applying for a grant under this section in respect of a house, it shall be taken to include the income received during the year ending on the date of such application by such person and by every member of such person's family who resided with him during that year and who may reasonably be expected to reside with him in the house.

Grants to persons not in lower income class by housing authority.

11. —A housing authority may make, to or in respect of a person (other than a farmer or a person to whom a grant is made under section 10 of this Act) in respect of a house for which a relevant grant is made, a grant of an amount equal to 50 per cent. of the relevant grant, if

(a) he is, at the date of his application for a grant under this section, the occupier, on a monthly or lesser tenancy, of a dwelling provided by the housing authority or the commissioners of a town, or

(b) he is accepted by the authority as eligible for selection as a tenant of a dwelling provided, other than by virtue of section 31 or section 35 of this Act, by a housing authority under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts or the Labourers Acts.

Powers of borrowing.

12. —For the purposes of sections 9 , 10 , and 11 of this Act a housing authority shall have the like powers of borrowing as are conferred on such authority for the purposes of the Housing of the Working Classes Acts or the Labourers Acts.

Amendment of subsection (1) of section 5 of Act of 1932.

13. —(1) The reference to the 1st day of April, 1950, contained (by virtue of subsections (1) and (2) of section 22 of the Act of 1948) in paragraph (j) of subsection (1) of section 5 of the Act of 1932 shall be construed as a reference to the 1st day of April, 1954.

(2) This section shall have and be deemed to have had effect as on and from the 1st day of April, 1950.

Amendment of section 6 of Act of 1932

14. —(1) Subsection (1) of section 6 of the Act of 1932, as amended, is hereby further amended by the substitution for subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of the following:—

“(i) not exceeding sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of such annual loan charges, where the Minister is satisfied that such houses are used for the accommodation of persons displaced by the collapse or destruction of their former dwellings or by any operations of such local authority under the said Acts or sections 75 to 78 of the Towns Improvement Clauses Act, 1847, as incorporated with any enactment, section 20 of the Dublin Improvement Acts Amendment Act, 1864, or Part II of the Dublin Corporation Act, 1890, or are used for the accommodation of persons in need of re-housing on medical, compassionate or other similar grounds if the circumstances of such last mentioned persons would not permit them to be so re-housed otherwise.”

(2) So much of subsection (4) of section 6 of the Act of 1932 as limits the amount of annual loan charges shall not apply to the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of Dublin or the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of Cork.

(3) Subsection (2) of this section shall have and be deemed to have had effect as on and from the 1st day of April, 1952.

Increase in floor area of reconstructed houses.

15. —The Minister may make a grant under section 16 of the Act of 1948 to any person reconstructing a house in the person's own occupation notwithstanding that the floor area of such house is more than 1,400 square feet and paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of the said section 16 shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

Amendment of section 19 of Act of 1948.

16. —Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 19 of the Act of 1948 is hereby amended, with effect from the passing of that Act, by the insertion immediately after “sell the house” of “within a period of 15 years from the date of the undertaking.”

Appeal to the Minister.

17. —Where a person is aggrieved by a grant made (whether before or after the passing of this Act) to him by a housing authority under section 19 of the Act of 1948, the person may report the facts of the case to the Minister and the Minister, if he is satisfied that the person has good reason for being aggrieved, may direct the authority to make any grant to the person which the Minister thinks just and which could have been made by the authority under that section and the authority shall comply with the direction.

Amendment of section 45 of Act of 1948.

18. —Subsection (2) of section 45 of the Act of 1948 is hereby amended by the substitution of “the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1952”, for “ section 16 , 19 or 20 of this Act”.

Amendment of Second Schedule to Act of 1948.

19. —(1) The Second Schedule to the Act of 1948, as amended, is hereby further amended—

(a) by the substitution in the first column for “agricultural labourer or any other person who derives his livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture and is in occupation of land and buildings whose rateable value or the aggregate of whose rateable value does not exceed £50, reconstructing house in own occupation” of “agricultural labourer reconstructing house in own occupation in a rural area or any other person who derives his livelihood solely or mainly from the pursuit of agriculture and is in occupation of land whose rateable value or the aggregate of whose rateable value does not exceed £50, reconstructing house in own occupation”; and

(b) by the substitution of “100” for “80” in the second and third columns respectively under the reference to 4 rooms and by the substitution of “120” for“80” in the said columns under the reference to 5 or more rooms.

(2) This section shall have and be deemed to have had effect as on and from the 29th day of April, 1952, but the amendment effected by this section shall not affect any grant under section 16 of the Act of 1948 where the grant was allocated and notified to the applicant under the said section 16 before that date and reconstruction was begun before that date.

Limitation on amounts of certain grants.

20. —A grant under section 7 of this Act together with a grant under section 16 of the Act of 1948 in respect of the erection of a house or a grant under the said section 7 together with a grant under section 6 of the Act of 1950 shall not, in the first case, exceed the appropriate sum specified in the third column of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1948 or, in the second case, exceed the appropriate sum specified in the third column of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1950.

Repeal of section 7 of Act of 1950.

21. —(1) Subsection (1) of section 7 of the Act of 1950 is hereby repealed.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall have and be deemed to have had effect as on and from 29th day of April, 1952, but the repeal of the said subsection shall not affect a grant under section 7 of the Act of 1950 in respect of a house if—

(a) where the grant is in respect of the erection of a house, the erection commenced before that date, or

(b) where the grant is in respect of the purchase of a house, the contract for the purchase of the house was completed before that date, and

(c) a scheme under section 7 of the Act of 1950 was duly adopted by the housing authority before the 1st day of April, 1952, and

(d) the grant is made under and in accordance with the said section 7.

(3) Where a person is aggrieved—

(a) by the refusal or failure of a housing authority to make a grant, or

(b) by the amount of a grant,

which, by virtue of subsection (2) of this section, could be or was made under section 7 of the Act of 1950, the person may appeal to the Minister who may direct the authority to make any grant to the person which the Minister thinks just and which could have been made by the authority under the said section and the authority shall comply with the direction.

(4) Subsection (2) of section 7 of the Act of 1950 shall cease to have effect as on and from the 1st day of January, 1953.

Amendment of section 8 of Act of 1950.

22. —Section 8 of the Act of 1950 is hereby amended:—

(a) by the substitution of the following for subsection (2)—

“(2) This section does not apply to a person who is eligible under section 16 of the Act of 1948 for a grant for reconstructing a house in his own occupation.”

(b) by the substitution of the following for subsection (4)—

“(4) Subsections (2), (4), (6), (7) and (8) of section 5 of the Act of 1937, as amended, shall apply in respect of grants under this section as if those grants were grants under the said section 5, and the council of a county shall have, for the purposes of this section, the like powers as are conferred on an urban authority by the said subsection (7).”

Amendment of section 9 of Act of 1950.

23. —(1) The limitation of fifteen years in subsection (1) of section 9 of the Act of 1950 shall be construed as ten years where the reconstruction of the house includes the replacement of a thatched roof by a roof of slates or tiles.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (3) of section 9 of the Act of 1950, the provision and installation of a private water supply and sewerage facilities shall not be regarded as forming part of the works necessary for the provision of additional accommodation in a house if a grant has been made under section 7 of this Act in respect of the house.

Grants by Minister to housing authority in respect of certain houses.

24. —(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and subject to regulations made under this section, make, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, to a housing authority erecting a house by virtue of section 31 or section 35 of this Act, a grant not exceeding the appropriate sum specified in the Second Schedule to the Act of 1950 if—

(a) erection is completed on or before the 1st day of April, 1954, and

(b) the house complies with the rules set out in the First Schedule to the Act of 1932, as amended.

(2) The Minister shall not make a grant under this section in respect of a house for which a grant is or was made under any other enactment.

(3) The Minister may make regulations for the purposes of this section.

Grants by Minister notwithstanding non-compliance by an applicant with a statute or a statutory instrument.

25. —The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make a grant under section 16 of the Act of 1948 or section 8 of the Act of 1950 or section 9 of the Act of 1950 or section 7 of this Act notwithstanding that a requirement of a statute or a statutory instrument has not been complied with in respect of the grant if a certificate of approval in respect of the relevant house has been issued by an officer of the Minister and the Minister is satisfied that the applicant for the grant has acted in good faith in proceeding to erect, or reconstruct such house or provide and install a private water supply and sewerage facilities in such house on receipt of such certificate.